
Class 

Book 



AFRICA'S 



REDEMPTION 



THE 



SaIiratJ0« at out (tanirjj, 



BY REV. F. FREEMAN, 

AUTHOR OF "YARADEE," " PLEA FOR AFBICA," " PSALMODIA," ETC. 



"Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto." 

Terence. 




NEW-YORK: 

TKINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY D. FANSHAW, 

No. lOri Naseau-strcot. 



185'J. 



■f 



Entered according to Act of CongTCM, in the yenr lrOi by F. Kr.cCM.ix, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United BtatM for the Southern 
District of New- York. 



T O 

THE MEMORY 



II E N R Y CLAY, 



THE DISTINGUISHED AMONG THE ILLUSTRIOUS, 

THE ACCOMPLISHED STATESMAN AND TRUE PATRIOT, 

THE FRIEND OF FREEDOM AND OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 

THE ABLE AND ZEALOUS ADVOCATE FOR COLONIZATION, 

AND ['RESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY - , 

WHOSE LAMENTED DECEASE, 

OCCURRING WHILST THESE TAGES WERE PASSING THROUGH THE PRESS, 

HAS CAUSED A NATION TO MOURN, AND BEREAVED HUMANITY OF A NOBLE FRIEND, 

THIS WORK 

IS, 
WITH DEEP SYMPATHY IN THE GENERAL GRIEF. 

DEDICATED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



Pages. 
Introduction, ...... 11-12 

Conversation I. The claims of Africa worthy of conside- 
ration — Diversity of sentiment — The African race often 
traduced — Capable of moral and intellectual distinction 
— Once an enlightened people — Distinguished men — 
Degrading influence of paganism and tyranny, . 13-19 

Conversation II. Origin of the African race — Africa, by 
whom originally settled — The curse against Canaan — 
The curse explained — The prediction fulfilled — The 
enslaving of Africans not therefore just — Canaanite3 
scattered — Africa not always to be oppressed, . . 20-26 

Conversation III. ^Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands 
unto God — Color of Africans — Different tribes assimilat- 
ed — Tradition respecting Cush — Early history of Africa 
obscure — Interior of Africa but little known — Africa's 
ancient glory — Light from Africa on other lands — That 
reflected back, ...... 27-36 

Conversation IV. Great reverses often in the history of 
nations — Much yet to admire in Africa — Africa's distin- 
guished ones — Prince Moro — Prince Abduhl Rahahman 
— Abduhl's father and Dr. Cox — Prince and Dr. Cox — 
Dr. Cox endeavors to free Prince — Prince's account of 
his capture — Carried to the West Indies and Natchez, 37-44 

Conversation V. Remains of Africa's former glory — 
Destined to raise — Travellers in Africa — Truth and fic- 
tion found together in travels — Africans not naturally 
indolent — Causes of indolence and incentives to vice — 
African bravery — Hemy Diaz — Other traits — Louis 
Desrouleaux — Glance at the interior of Africa — The 
Solima camp — Solima song, .... 45-56 



6 CONTENTS. 

Conversation VI. Scripture testimony to African learn- Tage*. 
ing — Manuscripts — Christian tribei — Large cities — Co- 
lor of beauty — Domestic slavery in Africa — Manner of 
capturing slaves — Horrors of the slave-trade — Middle 
naaeagi — Huiiois of slavery — A reproach to humanity 
— An evil full of danger — The evil to be removed — 
Something must be done — A light spirit needed, . 5G-€6* 

Conversation VII. Self-preservation a law of nature — 
Change being effected — Common interest of our coun- 
try — Slavery, the bane of our peace and unity — De- 
presses the South — Is unprofitable — Introduced by Eng- 
land — Policy of England — Retires South — Cannot be 
supported on barren soils — Occasions much anxiety — 
Great vigilance necessary — Insurrectionary alarms — 
An evil to master and slave, .... CC-7C 

Conversation VIII. Slavery attended with anxieties 
— Severe enactments — Dangerous publications — The 
South must be vigilant — Insurrectionary attempts rui- 
nous to the blacks — Slaves should not be kept in i^uo- 
ranci — Kindly feelings at the South — Difficulties of 
emancipation — Duty to slaves does not always require 
emancipation, ...... 77-S-l 

Conversation IX. Sentiment! of the South — Misrepre- 
sentations — Severity of remark unw ise — Washington's 
advice, ....... 8j-97 

Cms vkrsation X. Introduction of Slavery — Opposed by 
the colonies — The Brat slave-ship — Early date of sla- 
very in Africa — Foreign traffic — slaves introduced into 
Hispaniola — Origin of Blavery in America — Mistaken 
Philanthropy of Las Casai — Mistaken seal in a good 
cause limy lead to great error — I'll a of political neces- 
sity often abased — Advantage of one's own wrong — 
A consummation greatly to be desired, . . . 98-107 

Conversation XI. All Christendom has be. n engaged 
in the traffic — Christianity identified by the African 
formerly with cruelly and perfidy— Classification of 
slaves — How slaves are secured and sold — Honors of 
the paaaage — The middle paaaagi — Africa as she was — 

Extent of the triub — Cruelties, .... 108-113 

Conversation XII. Cruelties of the slave-trade — Extent 
i of tho trade in later years — First cost — Domestic dis- 
tress — Affecting ruse — The African Chieftain, Stanzas, 114-120 



CONTENTS. 4 

Conversation XIII. Change of public sentiment — Pagca. 

Measures in Parliament — Abolition of the trade by 
Congress — By oilier powers — Trade not suppressed — 
Something more necessary — Colonies along the coast — 
Early efforts of Virginia — Her example followed — Sla- 
very abolished by England — Claims of England unwar- 
rantable and immodest — An enlightened view of the 
whole subject desirable. ..... 121-132 

Conversation XIV. The Federal government — Rights 
guaranteed by Constitution — Must not be infringed — 
District of Columbia — South sensitive — North censo- 
rious — All interested — 1'rudent Measures recommended 
— North not without sin — Appeal to New-England, . 132-139 

Conversation XV. A national debt — May be cancelled — 
Eight of discussion — A moral wrong — Property recog- 
nized by law — Rights guaranteed — Value of slave pro- 
perty — The Federal compact — Difficulties of emancipa- 
tion — South tenacious of its rights — Foreign inter- 
ference inadmissable — The constitutional question — 
Effects of discussion — Disunion and collision madness — 
Virginia matron's appeal, . • • 139-153 

Conversation XVI. Moral and religious instruction of 
slaves — Efforts at the South — Religious instruction in 
Virginia — In Georgia — In South Carolina — Coloniza- 
tion tends to emancipation — Anecdote of recaptured 
boy — Slavery overruled for good — Christian colonies 
a means of evangelizing the heathen, . . . 153-166 

Conversation XVII. Freedom alone will not elevate the 
blacks — Their depravation not strange — No stimulus 
to effort — No opportunity for distinction — Almost ne- 
cessarily degraded — Natural consequence of their situa- 
tion — Cannot rise or be happy here — Claims of the 

"■ American Colonization Society — Opens bright pros- 
pects for Africa — Prejudices against Africans — Distinc- 
tions on account of color — Less prejudice in other 
countries — Anecdote of Saunders, . . . 167-173 

Conversation XVIII. Free blacks more degraded than 
slaves — Alarming proportion of crime among blacks — 
Either colonization or slavery necessary for the pre- 
sent — Colonization ameliorates the condition of the 
slave — Immediate and universal emancipation ruinous 
— Anecdote — An unwelcome population — Baltimore 
memorial — Embarkation of colonists, . . . 174-181 



8 



CONTENTS 



Conversation XIX. Africa a home for her children — 
Happiness and respectability promoted by removal — 

Motives to respectability — African improvement ami 
colonization closely united — The foundation of a Chris- 
tian empire laid — History of the American Colonization 
Society — Society organized — Originators and patrons — 
First emigration to Africa — Colonization agents visit 
Africa — Samuel John Mills — Death of Mills — Tribute 
to his memory, . ..... 

Conversation XX. Friends of Africa — Anthony Benezet 
— Object of the American Colonization Society — Gen- 
erally approved — All may unite — Lafayette's views of 
the Society — Other distinguished friends — Auxiliaries 
— Legislative acts approbatory — Funds — Ecclesiastical 
bodies approve, ...... 

Conversation XXI. Liberia — Location and chief settle- 
ments — Monrovia — Caldwell — New Georgia — Mills- 
burgh — Marshall — New Virginia — Ed ina — Bassa Cove 
— Bexley — Greenville — Readsville — Harper — Cape 
Palmaa — Address of the Maryland Colonists — Bassa 
Cove — Fertility of Liberia — Testimony of Park — Pro- 
ductions — Resources — Commercial advantages — Com- 
merce of Liberia — Enterprise — Prosperity, 

Conversation XXII. Climate — First selection of place 
unfavorable — Exposures of the early colonists — Dis- 
couragements at Jamestown and Plymouth greater — 
Difficulties at Sierra Leoni — Difficulties generally at- 
tend new settlements — Desolations of the slave-trade — 
Humanity pleads for Colonization — Honor to be pio- 
neers — Address of citizens of Monrovia — Delightful 
climate for blacks — No competition, 

Conversation X X 1 1 1. Aid from the United States — Re- 
captured slaves restored to Africa — Barry trials () f the 
colony — Ashmnn's defenci — Ashmnn's death — His ear- 
ly history — Dies playing for Africa — .Monument — Poe- 
tical tribute, ••.... 

Cosvi [RSATION XXIV. Liberia — Literary advantages — 
Library — Printing press — Testimony of Dr. Shane — < >l 

Capt. Kennedy— Of ('apt. Nicholson — Of ('apt. Abels 

Of a British officer — Of Governor Mechlin — Of Capt. 
Sherman— Of Rev. B. Wilson— Of Dr. Skinner— Of Mr. 



Page*. 



is:- 190 



190-197 



193-211 



ojo_ooo 



223-331 



CONTENTS. 9 

Buchanan — Of Colonists — Religious privileges — Colo- Pages. 

nization a good cause — Good has been done, . . 231-247 

Conversation XXV. Government of the colonics — The 
Republic — Its Constitution — Declaration of Indepen- 
dence — New Hopes — Acknowledged by the Nations — 
Emigrants to be assisted — Bright prospects, . . 247-257 

Conversation- XXVI. Colonization is practicable — Best 
way of redressing Africa's wrongs — The cause of true 
patriotism — Its claims — Colonization or ruin — Differ- 
ence of opinion among good men — Increase of Blacks 
— Dangers from a mixed population — Even partial suc- 
cess a great blessing — Slaves of other times of the color 
of their masters — Colonization unites conflicting inte- 
rests — All are benefitted — An honorable instance — 
Views of an intelligent colored man — Our honor pledg- 
ed — A nation's oath — Christian Obligations — Heaven 
on the side of Africa — Africa and colonization the sub- 
ject of many prayers, ..... 258-276 

Conversation XXV11. A great and worthy enterprise — 

Africa's claims acknowledged — A missionary field 

Bright prospects— Fond anticipation of Mills — What 

more noble cause — Emancipation not our only duty 

The country must engage in the work — Steam-ships 

Commerce — Increase of Liberia — Accession of territory 

— The slave-trade broken up — Right of appropriation 

True liberty secured to Africa, . . , 27G-29I 

Conversation XXVIII. Objections answered— Means of 
transportation— Great things usually accomplished slow- 
ly—Liberia compared with other colonies — Room in 
Africa — All opposition wrong— Shall not Africa be 
Christianized ? — Responsibility of oppose rs — Coloniza- 
tion and abolition societies not necessarily conflicting 

Neither should molest or be molested — All good associa- 
tions have not the same object — Glorious results antici- 
pated — If colonization fail, high hopes are blighted 

It will prosper — The cause of God, . . . 292-302 

Conversation XXIX. Redemption of Africa — Objections 
of opposers — Unites conflicting interests — Will advance 
Christianity — Promotes emancipation, . . . 302-313 

Conversation XXX. Mr. 1'inney's address to the colored 
people— A happy omen— A Divine agency directs— Co- 

1* 



10 CONTENTS. 

Ionization a practical blessing — The end most nobl< — Page"- 

Great inducement! — The feeling of Liberiaus — High 

honor — A wonderful phenomenon, . . . 314-326 

Conversation XXXI, A College in Liberia — Degene- 
racy without knowledge — High hopes inspired, . 3C7-334 

Conversation XXXII. A good understanding between 
the Nations needed to extinguish the slave-trade — Right 
of search — Facts ascertained — Slave-trade not practi- 
cable where colouies are planted — Great extent of coast 
exposed, ....... 335-343 

Review. Review of the whole subject — A good work, pre- 
eminently — Patriotic, humane, and christian, to help the 
colored man in his desires for self-elevation, and in his 
beneficent influence on benighted Africa — The object 
challenges universal favor, .... 311-357 

Conclusion. Early and distinguished friends of Coloniza- 
tion — Pre-eminent qualifications of those who were pi- 
oneers in colonization — Qualifications of the colonists 
generally — Acknowledgment of the valuable services 
of others in aid of tlie cause, .... 358-353 



INTRODUCTION, 

This volume is thrown before the world 
without the usual array of names to sustain its 
claims to consideration. Its pretensions are not 
lofty ; it refers to the importance of its subject, 
and with the solemn assurance that it has been 
written without any subserviency to party 
views, and without any unkind designs, it relies 
on the candor of the reader. The writer has 
followed the honest convictions of his own 
mind, and in connexion with facts that are 
indisputable, has expressed views which are the 
consciencious result of much reflection, personal 
observation, and a long residence and extensive 
acquaintance at the South. He may have 
formed an erroneous judgment in some things 
pertaining to the subject, for 

" to err is human," 

and he lays no claim to infallibility; but he 
loves truth, and has aimed at impartiality. If, 
on the one hand, he is constrained to admit a 
liability to bias from " northern prejudice," he 
can sincerely say that, on the other hand, his 
warm admiration of the southern character 
and his affection for southern friends unite an 
all-sufficient counteracting influence. He is 
fully aware that as these pages savor none of 
party, they will not find favor with the ultras 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

of any opinion ; and he conceives it more than 
possible that some of opposing sentiments may 
each suppose that the writer favors the views 
of the other : if, however, whilst some disapprove 
and condemn without cause, or arc severe in 
criticism, the more candid approve, the writer 
will not complain. 

Particular acknowledgments of the aid de- 
rived in this work from the able remarks of 
several distinguished advocates for freedom and 
for human rights, are not given ; for the task 
would be inconvenient and useless. If any such 
find their thoughts or language here employed, 
they will require no apology, satisfied to have 
aided by their writings this humble attempt, 
and will cordially unite with that of the writer, 
their earnest wish that the claims of Africa may 
be better understood, and that we may all and 
each of us be able to say, without an exception 
or a blush, 

'•Tin Liberta*. ii;i PATBU. M 

The author gratefully acknowledges the 

flattering reception which a similar work, his 
Plea for Africa, met, through several successive 
editions; and the assurances he has had that it 
has been of utility to the cause which he seeks 
to promote. His prayer is, that the present 
work may be useful, and that divine Providence 
may continue to smile on the efforts of all true 
friends of the African race. 



REDEMPTION OF AFRICA, 



(DDirraOSSATOIT h 



' Eternal nature ! when thy giant hand 
Had heaved the Hoods, and fixed the trembling land, 
When lii'e sprung startling at thy plastic call, 
Endless her forms, and man the lord of all; 
Say, was that lordly form, inspired by thee, 
To wear eternal chains, and bow the kuec I" — Campbell. 



' The subject of your discussion,' said Mr. Lovcgood, as 
he folded the paper which had for some time absorbed his 
attention ; and turned to his children, (who in the opposite 
part of the parlor had been, whilst he was reading, as busily 
employed in discussing the merits of the Colinization En- 
terprise,) ' is certainly one that commends itself to the 
heart, of humanity in either sex and among all people. 
Your inquiries, last evening, I had not time then to answer 
fully ; but I shall be happy now to give you all the infor- 
mation in relation to it, in my power.' 

The little group which Mr. L. thus addressed, consisted 
of his eldest daughter, Caroline, a lovely and interesting girl 
of sixteen ; Henry, a sprightly and intelligent boy, who was 
next to his sister Caroline in age, and their two younger 
brothers, and little sister Mary. Caroline and Henry were 
conducting the debate, but all seemed deeply interested in 
the subject, and the eyes of all glistened with pleasure when 
Mr. L. proposed to gratify their wishes by assisting them 



14 CLAIMS OF AFHICA. 

to understand a subject which they found attended with at 
least Borne difficulty. A beloved and respected Either is 
authority t<> which a dutiful and affectionate child loves to 
refer for information and advice, and to which, ordinarily, 
an appeal is made with great confidence. 

Said Caroline, -I thought from your remark-;, last even- 
ing, my dear father, that you suppose the views of both 
Henry and myself are somewhat incorrect; and I think 
nothing more probable than that mine are. for I confess I 
know not what to believe when I notice the conflicting opi- 
nions of so many good men in relation to this subject.' 

'it need not surprise us,' rejoined Mr. L. ' to find pre- 
vailing some diversity ut' sentiment on a subject which, 
whether presented to the mind of patriot, philanthropist, or 
Christian, involves considerations of so great and important 
interest. Nor will it be thought strange by me, if my dear 
children find, when we come to converse freely and fully on 
the subject, that they are in some error, not in matters of 
opinion only, but of fact. I therefore suggested to yon, last 
evening, for I had not time to say more, that possibly you 
might find yourself, in some things, laboring under mistake. 
The hint was given, you will recollect, Caroline, in conse- 
quence of a remark of yours in respect to the " obtuseness" 
of the African intellect.' 

'But, Pa,' said Caroline, with Bome degree «>f surprise, 
and with apparent incredulity,'] presume you do not "think 

the remark unjust f . Tin- stupidity of Africans, I suppose to 

be proverbial.' 

A point was now touched which it was evident had inte- 
rested the feelings of the children in the previous conversa- 
tion that had been held whilst Mr. I,, was engaged in read- 
ing; lor the smaller children drew closer around the table, 

and Caroline ami Elenrj looked at each other and at their 

father, as if this was a matter respecting which thej had not 
only agreed, bul wondered that an) on,-, and cspeciallj one 
whose opinion they so much respected, could entertain a 



MOHAL AND INTELLECTUAL DISTINCTION- J 5 

thought different from theirs. The reply of Mr. L. engaged 
their feelings still more : ' It is true my daughter, that in 
defiance of all records of antiquity, whether sacred or pro- 
fane, and equally regardless of the evidence which our own 
times may furnish, the African race are often mentioned 
as if a distinct order of beings, a grade between man and 
brute ;* but — 

' O Pa !' interrupted C. ' I have no such idea as that.' 
' I know that you have not,' resumed Mr. L., ' but, my 
daughter, you may not be doing ample justice to the Afri- 
cans, if you suppose them incapable of the finest sensibilities 
and sympathies of our nature, and of making great advances 
in all that requires strength or even brilliancy of intellect.' 

* It is earnestly contended by some that the negro race are so 
inferior by nature to the rest of mankind that perpetual slavery is 
the destiny to which they are best adapted. They have been stigma- 
tized " the disgrace and misfortune of the human race." Others as- 
sert that the skull or cranium of the negro shows him to belong to a 
distinct species ; and to settle the question whether the negro race 
be not a distinct species, reference has in some instances been made 
to the cranium. Nothing, however, can be argued from this source 
against/ac/s that show the negro race to be capable of great mental 
effort and distinction, if such facts can be made to appear ; and we 
think an impartial mind will not, upon inquiry, deny that very many 
instances of both moral and intellectual distinction among the race 
can be adduced. 

In Rees' Cyclopedia it is well remarked, " Without denying that 
there are differences both in the extent and kind of mental power, 
(in the various races of men,) we are decidedly of opinion that these 
differences are not sufficient in any instance to warrant us in refer- 
ring a particular race to an originally different species ; and we pro- 
test especially against the sentiments of those who would either 
entirely deny to the Africans the enjoyment of reason, or who ascribe 
to them such vicious, malignant, and treacherous propensities as 
would degrade them, even below the level of the brute. It can be 
proved most clearly that there is no circumstance of bodily structure 
so peculiar to the negro, as not to be found in other far distant na- 
tions ; no character which does not run into those of other races, by 
the same insensible gradations as those which connect together all 
the varieties of mankind." 



1C ONCE ENLIGHTENED. 

'Is it not strange, then, Pa,' C. inquired, 'that none of 
the African race have ever been distinguished for talent? I 
can easily conceive that Africans may have warm hearts j 
but it hardly seems to me that you are serious, Pa, when 
you speak of the capabilities of the African mind?' 

' My daughter may be quite as incredulous then, if told 
that this very people, now so degraded, and who have been, 
as if by common consent, so long and so much traduced, 
were for more than a thousand years the most enlightened 
people on the face of the globe V 

' What, Pa, the Africans?' 

' Yes, my daughter.' 

' Why, Pa, you surprise me. You certainly do not 
mean to be understood that Africans have ever been distin- 
guished for genius and intellectual attainments I' 

' I do, my daughter, as Btrange as it may seem. Africa, 
unhappy Africa, is now degraded, and wherever are her sons 
and daughters, they are reproached and trampled under fi ol ; 
but among her children stand immortalized in historj a 
long list of names, as honorable, for aught I know, as any 
nation upon earth can produce. 9 

This, C. professed, was to her a new idea ; and Henry. 
who admitted that he had 'always thought the Africans a 
much injured people, 1 and who protested that he felt 'very 
little respect fur those people who sometimes place the Afri- 
can on a level with baboons.'' acknowledged 'that the idea of 
literature and science associated with an African name ' was 
as novel to him as it was to Caroline. 

' You do not mean. Pa,' II. inquired, ' that any consider- 
able number of Africans have discovered genius, or been 
distinguished for the cultivation of their minds?' 

Caroline declared thai she did no1 'know a single in- 
stance, unless it be thai of Phillis Wheatley, who lived in 
Boston seventy years ago, and wrote BOme very pretty 

poems.'* 

* PktHis was bom in Africa — toru from her country at the age of 



DISTINGUISHED MEN. 1 7 

' You have both of you, my dear children,' said Mr. L. 
' heard of Cyprian, St. Augustine, and Tertullian, those 
fathers of the church ; they were Africans. Tkrrence, who 
has been called 

" As sweet a bard 
" As ever strung the lyre to song," 

was an African, and was once a slave. Quintillian says that 
Terrence was the most elegant and refined of all the come- 
dians whose writings appeared on the Roman stage. You 
have also read of Hanno and Hannibal ; they were 
among the valiant ones of Africa. It is said that the science 
of Algebra originated in Africa. And what is more, the 
time was when Religion shed her rays brilliantly upon that 
now benighted quarter of the globe, and the church was 
there prosperous. Ecclesiastical history tells us that in one 
council of the church in that country, assembled on a ques- 
tion of great importance, two hundred and seventy-seven 
Bishops took their seats.' 

Henry now inquired of C. if she had ever thought of 
these as being Africans ; confessing that he had not, although 
it now seemed to him strange that he never had. He 
thought that one would hardly suppose, looking at Africa as 
she now is, that such men were her sons. And C. who knew 
the fact that these were Africans, and could tell much of the 
ancient history of Africa, for she was well versed in history, 
both modern and ancient, but had been so long accustomed 
to identify the whole of Africa with the specimens she had 
seen, and to judge of the intellectual powers of all by the 
present degradation of the great portion of the Negro race 

seven, and in 17G1 sold to John Wheatley of Boston. " Allowed to 
employ herself in study, she rapidly attained a knowledge of the 
Latin language. In 1772, at the age of nineteen, and still a slave, she 
published a volume of religious and moral poetry, which passed 
through several editions " on both sides the Atlantic. She obtained 
her freedom in 1775, and died five years afterwards. 



18 PAGANISM AND TYUANNY. 

in this country, that she had lost sight of so important facts, 
or at least was unaccustomed to think of them in this con- 
nexion, professed to he 'quite ashamed' of herself. 'I 
really do not know,' she said, ' which most surprises me, my 
own stupidity in relation to this subject, or the interesting 
views which open to my mind, hy reason of the light which 
Pa has tin-own upon it. But, Pa,' she continued, ' the whole 
continent of Africa is exceeding degraded now ; do you not 
think that the African intellect, generally, has greatly dete- 
riorated V 

' My daughter,' said Mr. L. ' human nature, in whatever 
situation, is wronged if we judge of its capacity unfavora- 
bly merely because we find that paganism and tyranny de- 
grade those that fall under their influence. 11 Perhaps, how- 
ever, we shall pursue this whole subject to greater advan- 
tage if, taking time for its consideration and discussion, we 
call to our aid somewhat of system in arrangement of topics, 

* '• From the paralyzing influence of slavery, the ancient slaves 
of all nations, whatever their complexion, were considered inferior 
in intellect This is noticed L>y Homer: 

' For half his senses Jove conveys away, 

' Whom once he dooms to see the servile day.' 

Yet, what was benumbed, was not destroyed. Out of the stagnant 
pool of slavery arose a Scrvius Tultios, the sixth king of Borne; nn 
£sop, one of the wise men of Greece; ■ Phaedrus, who wrote fables 
in [ambic rerse: an AJcmen, a Lyric poel ; an Epictetus, the cele- 
brated stoic philosopher; and a Terrence, a distinguished dramatic 
writer among the Romans. * * The present depressed state of 
the African mind may lie accounted for without supposing any origi- 
nal or permanent inferiority. For thirty centuries they have been 
tin- common spoil of the world, and treated as if thi y were made 
only for slaves. And as to those who are found in other countries, 
what could be expected of creatures so circumstanced I Torn from 

their native soil in a state of nature, kept in the profouudest igno- 
rance, with every obstacle opposed to their improvement, depressed 
by the most cruel treatment, by a s< i iea of wrongs, enough to extin- 
guisb the last spark of genius, and with no hope — no incentive to 
exertion." — Grijfins Plea v>< Africa. 



PAGANISM AND TYRANNY. 10 

and glance in the first place at the former history of Africa, 
and then at her condition in later times, noticing the wrongs 
that have been done her in the prosecution of the slave- 
trade, and the claims which Africa has upon our sympa- 
thy and justice for redress. So that, if you please, we will 
make this the general plan of our conversations ; and as 
other topics of interest connected with the general subject, 
and growing out of it, naturally present themselves, they 
also may be noticed. I am pleased to see you interested in 
the welfare of A frica, and disposed to acquire correct views, 
and cherish right feelings in respect to so impoi'tant a sub- 
ject. My own sympathies are strongly enlisted in behalf of 
that much injured people. Their claims to our sympathy 
and humanity have been too long neglected.' 

Both Caroline and Henry expressed much satisfaction 
with the arrangement proposed, which they assured Mr. L. 
was very grateful to their feelings, and expressed also a 
hope that by their attention and improvement, they might 
be able to give other proof that they appreciate his kind- 
ness. 

Mr. L. on the other hand, intimated that he had great 
reason to rejoice that his children gave him so much evi- 
dence of their affection and respect, and so much promise in 
their dutiful, and upright, and ever amiable deportment, of 
future respectability and usefulness and happiness. 

The conversation was now deferred to another time. 



©•mTYiBOJSimDtf ml 



"God drave asunder, and assign'd their lot 
" To all the nations. Ample was the boon 
" He gave them, in its distribution fair 

" And equal ; and he bade them dwell in penre."— Coirper. 

' Well, my son, Caroline and I arc waiting for you that 
we may take up the subject of our last evening's conversa- 
tion,' said Mr. L. after a little conversation with C. on va- 
rious topics, while Henry seemed to he busily engaged in 
the adjoining room in turning over the pages and examin- 
ing the contents of a large folio which lay before him. 

' 1 am ready, Pa,' said II. ' I was looking at what is said 
under the word - Africa," in the Encyclopedia. C. and I 
have been examining one book after another a great part of 
the day, to satisfy ourselves from which of the sons of Noah 
the Africans are descended. The Old Testament has been 
( L's chief book of reference, whilst Calmet, and Brown, and 
others have been searched by me, I confess without much 
benefit.' 

Caroline was confident that their father could give them 
more information on the subject in one half hour than they 
might otherwise acquire ' by a whole month's study.' 

Mr. 1>. remarked, ' I think we proposed, last evening, to 
glance first at the history of the African race : the question 
v<>ii were agitating, then, in respect to their origin, is the 
first to be considered. I hi this point we must refer to a pe- 
riod which profane history does not reach, but on which the 
word of Go.l sheds its bolj light, teaching us that Africa was 

planted l>v the descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. 

• Ham. you will recollect, had four son-:. Of these it is 
generally agreed, that Cush settled in Lower Egypt, and 



CVRSH AGAINST CAXAAX. 21 

that from him were descended the ancient ^Ethiopians, 
known to ns as the Nubians and Abyssinians, and embrac- 
ing also those unknown nations inhabiting the equatorial 
regions of the African continent. Hence, " Cush " is the 
name applied in the Hebrew Bible to ^Ethiopia, embracing 
also in its frequent application Africa in general. Mizraim, 
the second son, peopled what was known to the ancients as 
the Thebais, Hermopolis, Memphis, and Delta of the Nile ; 
but better known to us as parts of Upper and Lower Egypt, 
sometimes called in the HebreAV scriptures " the land of 
Ham," oftener " Mizraim.'' From him also were descended 
the inhabitants of Colchis, the ancestors of the warlike Phi- 
listines. Phut, another son, peopled Lybia and Mauritania, 
embracing the kingdom of Fez, the Deserts, Algiers, and 
other portions. From these, with such additions as emigra- 
tion and frequent conquest have given, it is probable that 
all the nations of Africa, however divided, mixed or dis- 
persed, originally came.' 

Henry suggested, 'You have not mentioned Canaan, tel- 
ling us where he settled; I suppose, from the omission, that 
he settled in Asia, in the country called by his name V 

'Yes: Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, settled in 
'•Canaan," so called after him, which is sometimes called 
in scripture " Judah," and is also familiarly known by us 
as the " land of promise," and is also called " Palestine." — 
A colony of Phoenicians, known in scripture as Canaanites, 
settled at Carthage, and probably spread themselves over 
other portions of Africa.' 

C. here referred to an impression on the minds of many 
that Africans generally are descended from Canaan; and 
that they are therefore doomed to perpetual slavery by the 
curse which Noah denounced against him, Genesis, 9 : 25- 
27. She thought she had heard advanced, or had some- 
where read a sentiment of the kind. 

II. thought they who suppose this, should have better 
reasons for considering the Africans descended from Canaan, 



'22 THE CUKSE KXPLAINKP. 

before they make such an applioatiou of the words of 
Noah. Being requested by his father, he read the passage : 
" Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall lie be unto 
his brethren. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Ca- 
naan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and 
lie shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his 
servant. 1 ' 

'That,' observed Mr. L. ' is truly a remarkable prophe- 
cy. It is supposed by Commentators to have been re- 
corded for the encouragement of the Israelites in warring 
with the Canaanitea The passage is attended with some 
difficulty in the minds of many, who, to obviate that diffi- 
culty, read the original, " Cursed be Ham, the father of 
Canaan;" in which case you see that Africa would, beyond 
doubt, be affected by the denunciation. And if it have not 
this meaning, it may indeed be difficult to see the propriety 
of applying the curse to Africa at large.' 

It was very natural that both C. and IT., who had been 
giving their close attention to the instructions of Mr. L., 
should here ask, for they did not see, 'why any should 
change the reading of the translation to make the curse rest 
on Ham!' The difficulty, however, which some have found, 
or imagined, in the proper application of the denunciation, 
Mr. L. explained, referring them to the 24th verse o( the 
same, chapter, which verse immediately precedes the denun- 
ciation, and reads as follows; -And awoke from his wine, 
and knew what his younger son had done unto him." 

Henry now saw, at once, the difficulty. "His i/ounijer 
son,' II. exclaimed ; 'Ham was Noah's Becond son. was he 
not, Pa V 

'Yes; it appears that Hani was the second, and not the 
youngest, as they suppose is implied by the term in the 
original translated younger. Hut the way ill which Ham is 
introduced in connexion with the subject of Noah's intoxi- 
cation and exposure, ("And Ham. the father of Canaan, saw 
the nakedness of his father, and told it to his two brethren 



PREDICTION FULFILLED. 23 

without,") has led some to infer that Ham was the youngest. 
At the same, time, the frequent mention of Canaan, in con- 
nexion with the transaction, has suggested to the mind of 
others that Canaan was also criminal; and, by them, the 
expression, " knew what his younger son had done," is 
thought to refer to Canaan, the grandson. Canaan, they 
suppose, first discovered Noah's situation and told it to 
Ham* 

' Be all this as it may, the history of this painful trans- 
action, is full of serious instruction. You see a very strik- 
ing contrast between the conduct of Ham in exposing to his 
brethren Noah's disgraceful fail, and their commendable de- 
portment in doing what they could to conceal their father's 
infirmity and guilt. It is very evident that Ham could lay 
claim to none of the finer sensibilities of our nature if judg- 
ed by this one act. His behaviour was exceeding unamia- 
ble and reprehensible ; and he must have felt the rebuke to 
be deserved, when his own father was inspired to predict 
the consequent oppression and slavery of his posterity. 
And Canaan, if guilty, as has been supposed, was as severe- 
ly rebuked, knowing that the curse would rest especially on 
that branch of the family which should descend from him- 
self. The example of Shem and Japheth on the occasion is 
worthy of commendation ; and a blessing belongs to those 
who imitate their amiable deportment, as a curse assuredly 
awaits all who copy in their spirit or conduct the pattern of 
Ham and Canaan. 

'To your inquiry, Henry, whether the prediction of 
Noah has been evidently fulfilled in the descendants of Ham 
or Canaan, I would reply, that if we are to consider the 

* " The Hebrews believe that Canaan, having first discovered 
Noah's nakedness, told his father Ham: and that Noah, when he 
awoke, having understood what had passed, cursed Canaan, the first 
reporter of his exposure. Others are of opinion, that Noah, knowing 
nothing more displeasing to Ham, than cursing Canaan, resolved to 
punish him in his son.'' — Calmct. 



24 PREDICTION HLJ-II.LED. 

curse as resting on the descendants of Ham generally, we 
may see its fulfilment in the wrongs which unhappy Africa 
lias suffered by the oppression and servitude to which her 
children have bo Long been subjected. The history of Africa 
for a long period, has been, for the most, one of deep suf- 
fering, ignominy, outrage and crime; a tale of sorrow bro- 
ken by few intervals of happiness or of rest. It has been 
justly remarked of the whole continent, that it "has lain, 
like some huge and passive victim, with darkness throned 
like an incubus upon its bosom, while every reptile of evil 
omen and hateful form has preyed undisturbed on its pal- 
sied extremities." At the North uf Africa, " the conflicting 
interest and crooked policy of Europe permitting an orga- 
nized system of piracy ;" Egypt, from the days of Camby- 
ses, a tributary province, and prey <>f the rapacious Mame- 
luke ; in Abyssinia, the lamp of Christian truth glimmering 
in its socket) and casting its flickering beams on a degraded 
and brutalized population ; ignorance and barbarism consoli- 
dated and established by Mahometan influence in the South 
of Africa; at the Cape of Good Hope, human nature de- 
graded and oppressed ; and on the West of Africa, the 
slave factory and slave ship doing their accursed work and 
sweeping into distant and hopeless bondage unhappy thou- 
sands; Africa may truly l>e said to have had the very dregs 
of bitter affliction wrung out of her.' 

'But what. 9ir, if the denunciation of Noah is considered 
to be against Canaan and his posterity alone ' 

k \Ye shall >till be at no loss to find in their history a re- 
markable fulfilment. The devoted nations which God de- 
stroyed before Israel, were descended from Canaan; and so 
\s. re the Phoenicians, and the I larthagenians who were sub- 
jugated with dreadful destruction by the Greeks and Ro- 
mans. The descendants of Canaan, as a general knowledge 
of the outlines of history, will be sufficient to show, have 
been subjected to those ofShem and Japheth through many 
generations.' 



ENSLAVING OF AFRICANS NOT THEREFORE JUST. 25 

' The whole posterity of Ham then appear to have been 
signally the victims of misfortune and oppression V 

' They certainly have, my son.' 

'I have been running my eye over this Commentary,' 
said C. 'on the passage of scripture to which we have re- 
ferred ; shall I read a sentence 1 Bishop Newton, you will 
see, Pa, takes it for granted that the curse denounced is 
upon Ham and all kis descendants. 

1 Read it, Caroline.' 

Caroline reads the sentence she proposed : " The whole 
continent of Africa was peopled principally by the descen- 
dants of Ham ;* and for many ages have the better parts of 
that country lain under the dominion of the Romans, and 
then of the Saracens, and now of the Turks ! In what wick- 
edness, ignorance, barbarity, slavery, and misery, live most 
of the inhabitants ! — and of the poor negroes, how many 
hundreds, every year, are sold and bought, like beasts in the 
market, and conveyed from one quarter of the world to do 
the work of beasts in another !" ' But, Pa,' said she, ' even 
if the whole race of Africans are embraced in the curse, it 
does not therefore afford a vindication of slavery, or excuse 
for the cruel oppression of the African, does it V 

' No, Caroline : God has not, as I think, authorized us to 
enslave Africans, whatever authority may be claimed for 
Israel to drive out, and scatter and destroy the idolatrous 
Canaanites. The covetous desires and barbarous practices 
of those who seek to enrich themselves with the products oi 
the sweat and blood of Africa's unhappy sons, and for this 
purpose tear them away from their native country, are with- 
out apology. Nor, whether the prediction and denunciation 
of Noah affect Canaan and his descendants alone, or Ham 
and his posterity generally, is it to be supposed that Africa 
is therefore either the lawful prey of violence and outrage, 

* From the name of Ham, also written Cham, signifying burnt, 
swar/lii/, black, an argument has sometimes been raised in favor of 
this position. — See Calmet. 

2 



2G NOT ALWAYS TO BE OPPRESSED. 

or that she is doomed to perpetual degradation and wrong-. 
Admitting that the prediction has been remarkably fulfilled, 
whether on Canaan, or Africa generally, and that however 
wicked the oppressor has been, he was a scourge in the hand 
of God, fulfilling «i just decree, and an important prediction 
involving the authenticity of a portion of the sacred volume ; 
still, neither arc the oppressors therefore innocent, nor are 
we to suppose that the oppressed are never to cease to be 
the victims of the denunciatory decree. The same Scrip- 
tures which, turning to Africa, appeal for one testimony of 
their truth to the fulfilment of the curse, arc, we should re- 
member, also to gather another argument from the fulfil- 
ment of the prediction which says — "■ ^Ethiopia shall soon 
stretch out her hands unto God.'' This prediction and pro- 
mise must he fulfilled, nor can all the world stay the Almigh- 
ty arm that will be uplifted to break the rod of her oppres- 
sors. Africa will he free. Her chains will fall. 
'We will resume the subject this evening.' 



" How are we astonished when we i-eflect that to the race of 
negroes, at present our slaves, and the object of our extreme con- 
tempt, we owe our arts and sciences and even the very use of speech; 
and that in the midst of those nations who call themselves the 
friends of liberty and humanity, involuntary servitude is justified, 
while it is even a problem whether the understanding of Negroes be 
of the same species with that of white men." — Yolney. 

'Well, Pa, I suppose you remember the encouragement 
which you gave us that you would resume the interesting 
subject of Africa tins evening V said Caroline, as she saw her 
father lay aside the ' Evening News ' and remove his spec- 
tacles from his eyes, the well known signal to the children 
that the hour of leisure was come. ' You closed the conver- 
sation, this morning, with reference to that important pre- 
diction of Scripture, " Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her 
hands unto God ;" are Ave to understand the Prophet who 
utters this, to have reference to Africa generally, or to the 
descendants of Cush, the grandson of Noah only V 

'The word ^Ethiopia in our English Bibles, it is true, is 
Cush in the original Hebrew ; but the term seems to have 
a more extended application than the names of either of 
Ham's other sons. Cush, or .Ethiopia, is a name by which 
Africans in general have been known. Whether it is be- 
cause the race of Africans arc mostly descendants of Cush, 
that this term is more used, which I think highly probable, 
I am not able to determine ; but such is the fact — ./Ethiopia 
is a term of extensive application.' 

Henry having here inquired ' whether the Cushites, or 
.Ethiopians, were always black,' Mr. L. replied, ' There can 
be no doubt that this people were black as long ago as the 
days of Jeremiah ; and. if we are to credit Arabian testi- 



28 COLOR OF AFRICAN'S. 

mony, ages before. Jeremiah asks, " Can the Cushite 

(.Ethiopian) change his skin f .Ethiopian is a name deriv- 
ed from two Greek words denoting the color of the skin, 
(aa-ft-, to burn, ce%. the countenance — that is, burnt-face.) on 
account of the Cushite's dark complexion.' 

* ^'hat,' asked Henry, 'was the complexion of the an- 
cient Egyptians ; were they black also V 

' Herodotus, who. you know, is called the father of his- 
tory, says, speaking of the ancient Colchos, since called 
Mingrelia, whose inhabitants were originally Egyptians, and 
colonized when Sesostris, king of Egypt, extended his eon- 
quests in the north, u For my part, I believe the Colchi to 
be a colony of Egyptians, because, like them, they have black 
skins and frizzled hair."* The inhabitants of Egypt, how- 

* In another place this celebrated historian, who flourished in the 
fifth century before the coming of Christ, and who travelled exten- 
sively iti Egypt, and one of whose books is devoted to a description 
of its inhabitants, their manners, customs, character, arts and history, 
derived from personal inspection of the country and the narratives 
of their learned men. relates a fabulous account of the establishment 
of the temple of Dodona in Greece, by, as he explains the fable, nu 
Egyptian priestess, represented by a black dove; and says that the 
circumstance of its "being black explains the Egyptian origin of the 
priestess." In speaking of these remarks of Herodotus, Volney says, 
'• it shows that the ancient Egyptians were real negroes, of the same 
species with all the natives of Africa: and though, as might be ex- 
pected, after mixing for so many ages with the Greeks and Romans, 
thev have lost the intensity of their first color, yet they still retain 
strong marks of their original conformation." Diodorns Bicnlus, 
another ancient historian, informs OS that " the Ethiopians consider 
the Egyptians as one of their colonies;" I' ma) greatly startle some 

who have heard of "the fame of Egypt's wisdom — of the gigantic 

size of her eternal pyramids — the splendor of her twenty-thousand 
cities — of Thebes with her hundred gates and superb palaces and 

temples — of the wisdom of her laws and policy — of her mighty con- 
queror BiSOSTRIS, who drew kings at his chariot wheels, and left 

monumental inscriptions of bis prowess from Ethiopia to India," to 
In- told that '• Egypt — ancient, renowned, victorious Egypt, the mo- 
ther of science and arts, both ancient and modern, was inhabited by 
negroes — that Egyptians were in fac! black and curly-hcadcd,'' especially 



COLOR OP AFRICANS. 29 

ever, have long been a mixed community of Copts, Arabs, 
Greeks, Armenians, Turks, and Mamelukes. The Copts are 
generally supposed to be the representatives of the ancient 
Egyptians, and it is said prove their origin by a striking 
resemblance to the paintings and sculptures of the ancient 
temples, and to the mummies.* They arc generally de- 

if they have been accustomed to think with a distinguished governor 
of the south, that God has " stamped inferiority and slavery on the 
negroes' brow." The author, however, does not here undertake to 
settle this question — his object is impartially to state the facts in the 
case. There are many that have high claim to literature who un- 
hesitatingly contend that the negro may prove " his illustrious con- 
sanguinity, allied in blood — in brotherhood — in color — even in his 
short and curling hair, to the conquerors and instructors of man- 
kind." 

The Hon. Alexander H. Everett, a finished scholar of great re- 
search, and who would not make the assertion inconsiderately, has 
said of them, " It is sometimes pretended, that, though Africans, and 
of Ethiopian extraction, they were not black. But what says the 
father of history, who had travelled among them, and knew their 
appearance as well as we know that of our neighbors in Canada ? 
Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians were blacks, with curled hair. 
Some writers have undertaken to dispute his authority, but I cannot 
bring myself to believe that the father of history did not know black 
from white." 

* It may be proper here to remark that there has been some di- 
versity of opinion among the learned in regard to the character of 
Egyptian mummies. " Blumenbach has observed in the craniums of 
mummies that which characterizes the negro race." Volney "saw 
the figure of a sphynx, (an ancient monster of Egypt,) and found 
the features exactly those of a negro." Gregoire, and many others, 
adhere to the opinions of Volney and Blumenbach. The present 
Copts, descendants from the ancient Egyptians, but mixed with tha 
Persians and still more with the Greeks, have appeared to soma 
perfect mulattoes. Mr. Browne, a late traveller, could see in them 
no i-csemblance to the negro features or form, and affirms that theii 
dusky brown, and no darker color, is found in the paintings of tha 
tombs of Thebes, and that the ancient monuments, paintings and 
statues, generally exhibit the visage, not of negroes, but of tho 
•modern Copts. If the same form of skull is found in the Egyptian 
mummies, as Blumenbach asserts, and once contained, as Volney 



30 DIFFERENT TRIBES ASSIMILATED. 

scribed as of a dusky complexion, dark and cualed hair, thick 
lips, and scanty beard. In some features, they differ from 
the negro race on the western coast of Africa, and in the 

interior. There are, indeed, slight shades of variety which 
distinguish ail the different tribes of Africa. It may not be 
necessary to enter on a particular description of each. How- 
ever diversified may be the different tribes, there can bono 
doubt ul' their common origin as descendants of Ham, if we 
except those who have from time to time migrated from 
other portions of the earth; nor can there be any reason- 
able doubt that the African " Cush," or "^Ethiopia," is the 
appropriate term or representative of the African race in 
gcmral. Commentators differ, it is true, in respect to the 
countries which were originally included under the name 
'./Ethiopia ;' Michaelis supposes it to include African /Ethio- 
pia and Southern Arabia ; Gesenius says it is to be confined 
in its application to Africa alone. Rosenmuller contends that 
it embraces all countries whose inhabitants were black. 
There is, certainly, a striking accordance of complexion, 
language, manners, customs, &e. by which the inhabitants of 
the south and west of Africa, and all those who are known 
to be of ./Ethiopian extraction, are assimilated.' 

' The complexion of Africans is caused by climate, is it 
not, Pa V 

' I suspect, Henry, that neither the African complexion, 
nor features, can be ascribed wholly to climate; but must 
be referred to native variety at first, perpetuated by inter- 
marriages among the same race. 1 

pmvs, the profound genius of the Egyptians ; and if it be a fact, as it 
undoubtedly is, that the modern Copts are descended from the an- 
cienl Egyptians by a mixture of the blood of other nations, the pre- 
sumption is strong in favor of tin- idea that the Egyptians were 
— especially when these tacts are taken in connection with 
nmuiiv ofancienl historians. Tin' argument derived from the 
ancient paintings, monuments, &c. has its weight, however, and 
especially it" the testimony of travellers on this point should not bo 
contradictory. 



EARLY HISTORY OBSCURE. 31 

' Just, I suppose, as a jxart of the same brood being white 
and a part black, each sort may be perpetuated, as natural- 
ists tell us, by pairing together those of the same color V 
said Henry. 

Caroline here remarked, ' Mr. Bruce, the traveller, says, 
he found in Abyssinia, a tradition which had been handed 
down from time immemorial, that Cush was their father, 
and that he actually dwelt there. The tradition purports 
that, soon after the flood, Cush, the grandson of Noah, with 
his family, still terrified with the remembrance of the flood, 
and fearing a repetition of the same calamity, dared not re- 
main in the plains, but travelled until he came to certain 
mountains in Abyssinia, and there settled. It says, further, 
that there Cush and his people (with indescribable labor, 
requiring arts and instruments utterly unknown to us) 
formed themselves commodious and wonderful habitations, 
composed of solid granite and marble, which dwellings are 
now entire, and will remain so till the consummation of all 
things ; and that still avoiding the low countries, they ad- 
vanced along the different ridges and chains of mountains 
across the whole continent of Africa. The more Henry and 
I examine into this subject, however, the more difficult it 
seems to determine satisfactorily and beyond the possibility 
of contradiction, which, if either, alone of the sons of Ham, 
is entitled to the honor of being considered the principal 
progenitor of the African race. We have felt great curiosi- 
ty, since our last conversation, to find the arguments which 
go to show that the Africans, as the descendants of Canaan, 
are suffering their present degradation in fulfilment of the 
curse pronounced by Noah. Our examination only renders 
' ; darkness more visible." One author quotes from Proco- 
pius, who says, that when the Canaanites were driven from 
their country by the Israelites, they first retreated into 
Egypt, and gradually penetrated the continent of Africa, 
where, they built many cities, and spread themselves over 
vast regions, till they reached the straits of Gibraltar. This 



82 EAKLY HISTOKV ORSCTKE. 

would embrace the whole northern part of Africa, or the 
Barbarj Si ites. This author says, that in the ancient city of 
Tongis, founded by them, were two great pillars of white 
stone, near a large fountain, inscribed with Phoenician cha- 
j, - We arc people preserved by Sight from the robber 
. (Joshua,) the sou of Naver, who pursued us."' Ano- 
ther author says, u in the time of Athanasdus, the Africans 
continued to say that they were descended from the Canaan- 
ites, and when asked their origin, they answered ' L'a- 
nanV " 

' All this,' said Mr. T... ' is in corroboration of the position 
which 1 have taken. Admitting that the Canaanites mingled 
with other tribes in Egypt and all along the coast of the Me- 
diterranean to the Strait of Gibraltar, still we must look for 
the peopling of the vast interior of Africa, and the west and 
south, from another source. It is almost a matter of demon- 
stration, that the ( hishites settled the greater parts of Africa ; 
for such is the geographical situation of the country, as you 
will see at once by the map, that the natives bordering the 
Mediterranean coast are separated from die rest of the con- 
tinent by an almost boundless and impassable wilderness — 
the Lybian desert and the great desert of Sahara, which, to- 
gether, extend across the continent from the west of Egypt 

to the Atlantic ocean. The deserts are an ocean of sand, and 

in some places eight hundred miles in breadth. This, the 

only highway to tin- south and interior of Africa, was occu- 

pi( d by the ( JushitCS, who had nothing to prevent them from 
spreading into all regions south, now occupied by the negro 
race. It makes but little difference, however, from which of 
the grandsons of Noah the natives of this. that, or the other 
part of Africa are descended. There is intellect among them 

all. They base had their distinguished men in every tribe, 

so far as we have known any thing concerning the different 
tribes, and there is, and can be ii" impediment, no anathema 
of heaven, no forfeiture of their right as men among men, 

which can Mistily their being torn from the scenes of domes- 



ANCIENT GLORY. 33 

tic life, from country and home, to spend their days in bond- 
age. There is nothing, and can be nothing to annul and 
defeat the decree which sounds from the throne of the 
Eternal, " /Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto 
God." ' 

' I have no doubt, Pa, that the view which you have 
taken of the subject is correct. 1 think it is, on the whole, of 
very little importance whether most of the blood of Cush, or 
Canaan, of Mizraim, or Phut, runs in the veins of the present 
population of Africa. It seems that they have been higher 
than they now are in the scale of intellectual and moral at- 
tainments, and that they may rise again for aught we know. 
1 have the impression, Pa, that very little of the interior of 
Africa is at present known by the people of other countries V 

' Yes, my daughter, very little, comparatively. Bruce, 
Ledyard, Park, Riley, Bowditch, Denham, Clapperton, 
Laing, the Landers, and numerous adventurers, have from 
time to time added to our store of information ; but still 
comparatively little is known. To penetrate far into the 
heart of Africa has been found so difficult and arduous a per- 
formance, that it has been very partially accomplished. Still, 
enongh is known of Africa in respect to her ancient glory, 
and her present susceptibility of mental and moral impres- 
sions, to authorize the expectation that she may be raised to 
a high rank of moral worth and of intellectual respectabili- 
ty. That continent which, notwithstanding her present deg- 
radation, is pronounced in history by common consent the 
birth-place and cradle of civilization and of the arts and 
sciences, cannot always, must not long be shrouded in dark- 
ness, and borne down by oppression. Seeing what Africa 
has been, and what she may yet be, our sympathies en- 
kindle towards her. It cannot be otherwise than that 
they will. 

' The Cushites, or .Ethiopians, let me tell you, established 
the first regular police which history records. The first great 
city described in history was built by them. They surround 

2* 



34 LIGHT ON OTHER LANDS. 

cd it with walls, which, according to Rollin, were eighty- 
seven feet in thickness, three hundred and fifty feet in height, 
and four hundred and eighty furlongs in circumference. 
And even this stupendous work they shorty lapsed 

l>y another, of which Diodorus Bays, " Never did any city 
t up to the greatness and magnificence of this. Pyra- 
mids, obelisks, and mausolea still stand, as if in mockery of 
the very credulity of man, a memorial of that spirit of dar- 
ing enterprise and skill which made Egypt the mother of 
science, and, for a time, the mistress of the world !" 

'It is a fact well attested by history, that/Ethiopians 
once hare sway not only in all Africa, but oveT almost all 
Asia. And it is said that even two continents could not af- 
ford field enough for the expansion of their ( They 
found their way into Europe, and made the settlement on 
the western coast of Spain, call.-d from them 'Iberian .-Ethio- 
pia. "" And. says a distinguished writer, "wherever they 
went, they were rewarded for their wisdom." 

'That very light which long since blazed before the 
world in < rreece and Rome, and which now rises to its noon- 
day Bplendor under the auspices of Christianity, in Europe 
and America, be it remembered, my dear children, was 
kindled on the dark shores of Africa.* When I think of 

■ •• It was (lining the 1 8th dynasty of Egyptian kings that the 
first colonization of Greece took place. Three slips lead us from 
Athens through Home to the institutions of England ; to al] and every 
of the advantages and blessings we possess of fully developed < ivili- 
zation. * * With them, civilized society may be said to have 
originated on the wreck of the cyclopean or pastoral community •, 
ami during this dynasty all the mosl momentous events connected 
with the human race appear n> have occurred. To this dynasty, 
either at its' origin <>r during its progress, may be traced the greatest 
events that concern our social well-being at this very day — the est ib- 
lisbment of judicial, legislative, and fiscal departments of govern- 
ment b i to it — and nf the whole frame-work <>t" political 
iii> onanism necessary i" give motion, steadiness, and permanence to 
• ial machine. " * The sublime and magnificent monuments 
> n < ted by this ancient race of momuclis ou tlio plain embraced by 



UGIJX REFLECTED BACK. 85 

these things, my spirit stirs within me, and I am almost im- 
patient to see that light reflected back on Africa again — 

' the hundred-gated Thebes ' attest to this day, their taste, their am- 
bition, their wealth, and their power. They suggest ideas of the 
works of fabled enchanters rather than of ordinary human beings. 
It was that myriad-columned plain, beneath its gorgeous archways 
and gigantic colonnades, that Champollion, in the excited language 
of astonishment, exclaimed, ' these porticoes must be the work ol men 
one hundred feet in height !' It appeared to me, says Belzoni, like 
entering a city uf giants. Kossellini's illustrations prove that imagi- 
nation itself has scarcely invested this line of j'otentates with attri- 
butes of too surprising a character: Rossellini proves, that so far 
from making any extraordinary advance in the arts, contributing to 
the splendor or the comfort of society, we have yet to recover artcs 
pcrdUtc (lost arts) known to the Pharaohs of the dynasty to which 
we refer. There are many effects of art which the Egyptians at this 
time produced, which we are not capable of accomplishing. Some rest 
on contemporary evidence, others are demonstrated by the pialpable 
evidence brought before our eyes by Rossellini, (pictorial represen- 
tations taken from the walls of Egyptian temples.) We see the 
sculptors in the act of cutting the inscriptions on the granite, obelisk 
and tablets ; we see a pictorial copy of the chisel and tools with which 
this operation was performed. But our tools would uot cut this stone 
with the precision of outline which the inscriptions retain to this 
day. Setting aside the lost art of hardening copper implements of 
war, what means had the Egyptians of hardening their iron or steel 
implements for the purpose in question? We have at all events lost 
this art. The same arguments may aj>ply to some of their cameos 
and intaglios, with this addition, that the minute delicacy of their de- 
tails could only be effected by means of a microscope. We could not 
produce them without its aid. The Hebrew legislator inferentially 
ascribes to the Egyptian chemist the art of making gold liquid, and 
of retaining il in that state. This we have not the power to do. The 
productions of the goldsmiths and silversmiths of Thebes are exhibit- 
ed (pictorially) by Rossellini. He exhibits gold and silver tm-eens, 
urns, vases, &c. of the most exquisitely beautiful workmanship, in 
tasteful as well as magnificent forms. An Egyptian sideboard, with 
all its details, not excluding dishes, plates, knives and spoons, near 
4,000 years ago, bore striking resemblance to the sideboards of our 
modern palaces and villas. Not the slightest improvement has been 
made in the tasteful forms of their household furniture to this day. 
After our enumeration of some of the early arts, including the arles 



SO LIGUT KKKI.ECTED BACK. 

yes, tlio light of science combined with the glorious light of 
the gospel of Christ.' 

perdita of ancient Egypt, onr readen may hare been tempted to < x- 
claim, '• there ia nothing new nnder the sun !" But the exclamation 
would he still more justifiable and appropriate after a complete sur- 
vey of i he trades and manufactures of Egypt (exhibited in Bossellini'a 
repreaentationa copied from the Egyptian temples.) Tlie whole pro- 
cess of manufacturing silk and cotton, with all its details of reeling, 
carding, weaving, dyeing, and patterning, may he more especially 
named/' — Foreign Quarterly Review. 

" .Mankind instead of advancing, are just attaining to the standard 
of ancient African science and art. * * Tlie tables indeed are 
turned ; the African has fallen from his peerless elevation. lie now 
withera under the shadow and the strong arm of the white man; hut 
let him he transplanted — let him he returned to his native home, 
hearing hack with him tlie di rived arts, science and civilization of 
his ancestors, and once more he shall regain — perhapa fenrpasa his 
ancient glory." — Cincinnati Jour, and Luminary. 



©©WEIBSATOrar W 



" Cruel as death, insatiate as the grave, 
False as the winds that round his vessel blow, 
Remorseless as the gulf that yawns below, 
Is he who toils upon the wafting blood, 
A Christian broker in the trade of blood." — Montgomery. 

' I am glad, Pa,' said Caroline to her father, who had 
given intimation of his disposition to take up the subject 
again after tea, and who had just risen from the table and 
seated himself in his chair by the lire, ' that we may again 
claim a little of your time, and tax your kindness to tell us 
more of Africa. I shall certainly think more of that much 
injured quarter of the globe for the time to come, and shall 
abhor slavery more than ever. What strange reverses there 
are in the history of man ! We would never suppose from 
any thing that is seen in Africa now, that she Avas ever dis- 
tinguished for any thing but ignorance, barbarism, and bru- 
tality.' 

' There is much, my daughter, to be seen in Africa even 
noro, of her former greatness. There is yet to be found 
honor, bravery, intellect, genius, learning, and rank.* We 
have had proof of this from those who, as victims of our 
cupidity, have been transported slaves to this boasted 
land of freedom. Amongst them have been torn away, in 
some instances, the Princes of Africa, and others of her dis- 
tinguished ones. They came oppressed, their noble spirits 

* " We cannot but admire the reasoning and humanity of those 
who, after tearing the African from his native soil, and dooming him 
to perpetual labor, complain that his understanding shows no signs of 
improvement, and that his temper and disposition are incorrigibly 
perverse, faithless, and treacherous."— Reea. 



03 PHINCE MOIIO. 

broken down, the whole man subdued by the extinction of 
the last raj of hope, Bevered from all on earth most dear, and 
stepped upon these shores Loaded with chains — it may 
be, bleeding with stripes; and they were held in this "land 
of the free," in bondage — among a people of strange tongue 
— placed on a level with the most degraded of the miserable 
— tasked— ami it is possible, for it is often asserted, lashed 
to quicken them in their heartless toil : but notwithstanding 
all, they have discovered still, under all these almost insup- 
portable causes of depression, the lineaments of a noble spi- 
rit, a lofty mind ! Although they came from a country where 
despotism and paganism exerl all their influence to sink the 
human character, these men have held the pen of a ready 
scribe, and spoken with the tongue of the eloquenl — writing 
the Arabie, and the language of their respective tribes, with 
facility and elegance, and uttering the same apparently with 
the fluency and ease of the distinguished among our own 
orators.' 

Henry here mentioned that he had 'lately read an ac- 
count of one such African, called Pkince Mono. 1 saw it,' 
said he, ' in an old number of a file of the Episcopal, or 
Philadelphia, Recorder. Annexed were some remarks of 
the late Dr. Bedell, of that city, who also certified to the 
truth of the article, he having known Prince and often con- 
versed with him at the south.' 

j\Ir. L. recollected the ease of Prince Moro very well : 

and was able at once to refer to a number of the Christian 
Advocate, where was (bund recorded, on the authority <>f a 
gentleman of Fayetteville, North Carolina, at which place 
Prince resided, the following outlines of his history : 

'•About the year 1808 a South Carolina planter pur- 
chased a gang <<i' slaves, among whom was a man of a slen- 
der frame and delicate constitution, who was not able to 
labor in the held, or had not the diposition to do 80. His 
health failing, he was considered of no value, ami disregard- 
< 1. At length he strolled oil", and wandering from planta- 



PRINCE M0R0. 39 

tion to plantation, reached Fayctteville, was taken aip as a 
runaway, and put in jail, where he remained some time. As 
no one claimed him, and he appeared of no value, the jail 
was thrown open that he might run away ; hut he had no dis- 
position to make his escape. The hoys amused themselves 
with his good-natured, playful behavior, and fitted up a tem- 
porary desk, made of a flour barrel, on which he wrote in a 
masterly hand, writing from right to left, in what was,, to 
them, an unknown language. He was also noticed by some 
gentlemen of the place ; but his keeper grew tired of so use- 
less a charge, and he was publicly sold for his jail dues. His 
purchaser, a gentleman living about thirty miles from Fay- 
etteville, finding him rather of a slender make, took him in- 
to his family as a house servant. Here he soon became a 
favorite of the inmates of the house. His good conduct in a 
short time put him in possession of ail his master's stores, 
and lie gradually acquired a knowledge of the English lan- 
guage. His master being a pious man, he was instructed in 
the principles of the Christian religion, which he received 
with great pleasure ; and he seemed to see beauties in the 
plan of the gospel which had never appeared to him in the 
Koran ; for he had been reared and instructed in the Maho- 
medan religion, and it was found that the scraps of writing 
from his pen were mostly passages from the Koran. It would 
seem that he was a prince in his own country, which must 
have been far in the interior of Africa — perhaps Timbuetoo 
or its neighborhood. At all events, his intercourse with the 
Arabs had enabled him to write and to speak their language 
with the most perfect ease. 

" Some of the Africans pretend to say he was what they 
call a ' pray-God, to the king,' by which may be understood, 
a priest, or learned man, who offers up prayers for the king 
of his nation, and is of his household. His dignified deport- 
ment showed him to be of a superior cast — his humility, that 
of a peaceful subject, not a despot. In his person he is well 
formed, of a middle size, small hands and feet, and erect in 



40 PRIBCB MOKO. 

his deportment. Ilia complexion and hair, as well as the 
form of the head, are distinctly of the African character. 
Some years since, he united himself to the Presbyterian 
church in Fay etteville, of which he continues an orderly and 
respectable member. A gentleman who felt a strong inte- 
rest for the 'good Prince Moro,' as he is called, sent to the. 
British Bible Society, and procured for him an Arabic Bible 5 
so that he now reads the Scriptures in his native language, 
and blesses Him who has caused good to come out of evil, 
by making him a slave/' 

' Pa, did Prince return to his native land V 
'I suspect not, Caroline. His good master offered to 
send him to his native land, his home, and his friends; but 
he said, "No, — this is my home, and here are my friends, 
and here is my Bible; I enjoy all I want in this world, if I 
should return to my native land, the fortune of war might 
transport me to a country where I should be deprived of the 
greatest of all blessing, that of worshipping the true and liv- 
ing God and his Sou Jesus Christ, whom to worship and 
serve is eternal life." ' 

'Pa." Baid Caroline, with eyes glistening in moisture, 
'the gentleman who bought Prince, and used him so kindly, 
and instructed him, must have fell amply rewarded and 
greatly happy to find this poor Mahomedan become an hum- 
ble follower of the Lord -Jesus'] And it would seem almost 
as if Cowper had written expressly to suit the case of Prince, 
speaking the very feeling of his heart, and almost his very 
words, iii those lines. 

•• My dear deliverer oat of hopeless night, 
Whoae bounty bought me bnt t<> give me light; 

I was B bondman on my native plain, 

Bin forged, and ignorance made fast the chain ; 
Thy Lips have shed instruction as the dew, 
Taught me what ]>atli to shun, and what pursue; 
l-'arcwell in_v former joys! I sigh do more 
For Africa's once loved, benighted shore; 
Ben ing a benefactor, I am free, 
At my Ix-tt borne, if not exiled from thec !" 



TRINCE ABDUHL RAIIAHMAN. 41 

Henry said, ' Dr. Bedell stated that Prince had been 
educated at Timbuctoo, and that he could write Arabic in a 
most beautiful manner. He composed a history of his own 
life, said Dr. 13. which was sent to some of our literary insti- 
tutions. Prince belonged to the Fouluh tribe? 

' A more interesting case still,' said Air. L. ' is that of 
the Moorish Prince, Abduhl Rahahman, who was sent out 
to Liberia by the American Colonization Society, but who 
died soon after his arrival in Africa. He was a slave in this 
country nearly forty years, and then obtained his freedom. 
He was born in the city of Timbuctoo, in 1762. His uncle 
was a king. His father was governor of Footah Jallo for a 
time, and then on the colony becoming independent, was 
king of Footah Jallo. Prince, after completing his educa- 
tion, entered his father's army, soon rose to distinction, was 
appointed to the command of an army, and marched against 
the Hebohs, a tribe at the north of Footah Jallo. He en- 
tered their country to punish them for destroying vessels 
that came to the coast, and for preventing the trade. Hav- 
ing put the Hebohs to flight, and set their towns on fire, he 
commenced his retreat ; the Hebohs rallied, however, and 
by a circuitous route and rapid marches, intercepted him, 
and ambushed themselves in a narrow defile of a mountain 
through which Prince was to pass. The consequence was, 
that Prince and a part of his army were made prisoners, 
and sold to the Mandingoes, and finally sold by them to a 
slave ship, on the coast. Prince was brought to this coun- 
try, and sold to a gentleman residing at Natchez, Mississip- 
pi. During the whole time of his bondage, Prince was never 
known to be intoxicated or guilty of a falsehood, or of a dis- 
honest or mean action. He submitted to his fate without a 
murmur, and was an industrious and faithful servant, intel- 
ligent, modest and obliging to all. His manners are repre- 
sented as not only prepossessing, but dignified. Though 
born and raised in affluence, and now reduced to abject ser- 
vitude, he bore his trials all with fortitude, and carried still 



42 ADDUIIL's FATHElt AND DR. COX. 

" a noblo mien. 1 ' The story of his life, which is eventful 
and interesting, we have from his own mouth, corroborated 
bj a train of drumstances and events which, in their order 
and developement, are truly remarkable. 

'Dr. Cox, late a distinguished physician in Natchez, was 
in his early days a surgeon on board a ship which visited 
the coast of Africa. In one of his excursions on shore 
he lost his way, and the ship sailed and left him. In his 
wanderings he came to Footah Jallo. The people saw 
him, and ran and told the king of the "white man." The 
king ordered Dr. C. to be brought to him. Prince accom- 
panied the Doctor to his father's house, where he was hospita- 
bly treated, and during a long and painful sickness was at- 
tended with the utmost kindness and humanity. After his 
ery from sickness, he was conveyed by his hospita- 
ble host and attendants to the sea-shore, where he found a 
ship and returned to this country. Prince had been six- 
teen \ -ears a slave in this country when Dr. Cox removed 
to Natchez, and he and Prince met and recognized each 
other in the streets of that city. 

' Prince's account of Dr. Cox's residence in his father's 
family, and of his interview with him on their first 
meeting in Natchez, is deeply affecting. Prince says, that 
when Dr. Cox was brought to his father "he was asked 
where he was going 1 The Doctor said he did not know 
where to go — he was lost — the ship had left him — and he had 
a sore leg, which he had wounded in travelling. My father 
told him lie had better go no further, but stay with him, and 
he would gel a woman to cure his leg. It was soon cured. 
My father told him to stay as long as he chose, Ele re- 
mained six months. One day my father asked him if he 
wished to go to his own country. He said yea My father 
said, what makes you desire to go back, you are treated 
well here? He answered, that his father and mother would 
be anxious when the vessel returned without him, thinking 
he might be dead. My father told him, 'whenever you 



prince's account of his capture. 43 

wish to go, I will send a guard to accompany you to the 
ship.' Then fifteen men were sent with him by my father 
for a guard, and he gave the Doctor gold to pay his passage 
home. My father told the guard that if a vessel was there 
they must leave the Doctor but must not go on board the 
ship ; and if there was no vessel, they must bring the Doctor 
back. They waited some time, and then found the same 
vessel in which he came, and he went on board." 

' Prince continues, " After that I was taken prisoner, and 
sent to Natchez. When I had been there sixteen years Dr. 
Cox removed to Natchez, and one day I met him in the 
street. I said to a man who came with me from Africa, 
' Sambo, that man rides like a white man I saw in my coun- 
try. See, when he rides by ; if he open but one eye, that 
is the same man." When he came up, hating to stop him 
without reason, I said, ' Master, do you want to buy some 
potatoes'? While he looked at the potatoes I knew him, 
but he did not know me. He said, ' Boy, where did you 
come from V I said ' from Col. FV He said ' Col. F. did 
not raise you V Then he said, 'you came from TeemboT 
I answered, ' yes.' lie said, ' your name is Abcluhl Rahah- 
man V Then springing from his horse he embraced me, 
and inquired how I came to this country. Then he said, 
' dash down your potatoes and come to my house.' He rode 
quick, and called a negro woman to take the potatoes from 
my head. Then he sent for Gov. W. to come and see me. 
When Gov. W. came, Dr. Cox said, ' I have been to this 
man's father's house, and they treated me as kindly as my 
own parents.' The next morning he tried to purchase me, 
but my master was unwilling to sell me. He offered large 
sums for me, but they were refused. Then he said to mas- 
ter, ' If you will not part with him, use him well.' After 
that, Dr. Cox died, and his son offered a great price for me." 

'Prince's own account of his capture is also interesting. 
When returning from the country of the Hebohs it seems 
he was unapprehensive of any enemy being near, and he 



44 CARRIED TO THE WEST INDIES AND NATCHEZ. 

says, " We dismounted and led our horses until we were 
halfway uj> the mountain. Then they fired upon us. We 
saw the smoke, we heard the guns, and saw the people drop 
down. 1 told every one to run until we reached the top of 

the hill, then to wait for each other until all came there and 
we would fight them. They followed us, and we ran and 
fought I saw that this would not do. 1 told every one 
to run who wished to do so. I said, ' 1 will not run for an 
African.' I got down from my horse, and sat down. One 
came behind and shot me in the shoulder. One came be- 
fore and pointed his gun to shoot me, but seeing my clothes 
ornamented with gold, he cried out, 'That the King.' When 
they came to me 1 had a sword under me, but they did not 
bee it. The first one that came I sprang upon and killed. 
They knocked me down with a gun and 1 fainted. They 
carrie. 1 me to a pond of water and dipped me in. After 
I came to myself they hound me. and then pulled o(T my 
shoes and made me go on barefoot one hundred miles, and 
led my horse before me. As soon as my people got home 
my lather raised a troop and came after me: and as soon 
as the Hebohs knew that he was coining they carried me 
into the wilderness. My father came and burnt their coun- 
try. They carried me to the Mandingo country, on the 
Gambia, and sold me, with fifty others, to an English ship. 
They took me to the Island of Dominica; after that I was 
taken to New Orleans, then to Natchez." 

' Prince was educated a Mahomedan. He was friendly 
disposed to the Christian religion, admiring the precepts of 

the Bible, hut asserting that Christians do not follow them! 

'After the liberation of Prince, whilst preparing for his 
return to Africa, he visited Hartford, Connecticut, and there 
found an aged African who had been a soldier in the army 
of his father! He, whose present name was Stirling, cor- 
roborated many particulars which I have now related Con- 
cerning I'riii 



^FTOIESAOTOT V c 



" Breathes there the man, with soul so dead 
Who never to himself hath said, 

This is my own, my native land ! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
As home his footste{>s he hath turned?" — Scolt. 

' Well, Henry, where is Caroline ? — O, here she comes, 
Well, Caroline, you are not wearied, I hope, with the sub- 
ject of Africa V 

' Pa, indeed I am not. I am always glad to see the hour 
return when we may resume the subject. The case of 
Prince Abduhl Rahahman, which you mentioned to us last 
evening, was truly interesting. It seems greatly desirable 
that he should have lived a few years after his return to his 
native land ; although, at his time of life, it was hardly to 
be expected by him or his friends that he could live long in 
any part of the world.' 

' Yes : it appeared greatly desirable that he should live. 
The ways of Providence, however, although mysterious, are 
wise. It is said that Prince, on his return to Africa, returned 
also to the Mahomedan faith. If so, he might not have es- 
sentially aided the progress of the christianization of Africa, 
had his life been spared.' 

' It seems to me, Pa, that the continent of Africa pre- 
sents to the mind a singular combination of character, tak- 
ing into view her whole history — that is, the little that we 
know of it V 

' It certainly does : she has been the very focus of litera- 
ture and refinement, and also has afforded the very worst 
specimens of barbarism. We see there the greatest igno- 
rance and debasement, and yet even now find evidence also 
of something like attention to learning, and hear from travel- 



40 DESTINED TO KISE. 

lers of an interior where are magnificent cities, and the 
Bplendors of wealth and power. The history of Africa's 
better days, and the present remains of her former glory, 
encourage the hope that she may again recover her eleva- 
tion, notwithstanding all that seems most discouraging. It 
has been said that t<> the burning history of Ancient Greece, 
more than to anv other cause, Modern Greece is indebted 
lor any spirit of liberty and improvement with which she 
may. of late years, have appeared inspired. Africa may jet 
find motive to action, in the thought of what she has been, 
whilst her }>.;-! history may he the means of enlisting the 
sympathies of the world in her behalf. There is enough, 
certainly, in her history, to throw suspicion on the frequent 
charge of natural inferiority of her children* 

* Many instances may ho cited of genius mid elevated character 
among the African race, sufficient at least to redeem them from the 
unkind imputations by which their perpetual servitude is sometimes 
justified. To name hut a few : J. E. J. Catitein, born in Africa, and 
bought by a slave-holder on the river St. Andre, was tarried to Hol- 
land, where he acquired a knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and 
Cbaldaic. He Btudied Theology at the University of Leyden, took 
was ordained at Amsterdam, and went out as a mission- 
ary to Guinea in 1742. He was the author of several published ser- 

mons, poems, and dissertations. His " Dissertatio de Bervitute Li- 
bertali Christiana- linn contraria " went through four editions. 
Ignatius Sanciio, and I \ i a, the former horn on board a 

slave-ship on its passage from Guinea to the West Indies, and the 
latter in the kingdom of Benin, distinguished themselves by their 
literature. Bancho died in England in irso. Letters of bis were 
published in 2 vols, octavo, and were well received by the public. 

btained his freedom when about .i.e. published in 

London Ids memoirs, also a poem, which were read with great in- 
t< rest, ami the former several times reprinted. In ITS'.) he pi 
eil to Parliament a petition for tin- suppression of the slave-trade. 
tanl librariau to 8ir Joseph Banks, and 
Secretary to the Oommittee for vaccination. He is represented as 

i in bibliography. A. W. Abo, born in Guinea, was brought to 
this country when young, took the degree of Doctor in Philosophy 
at the University of Wittemberg in 1734. lie was skilled in Latin 
■ad Greek; delivered lectures on philosophy i in 1744 supported a 



DESTINED TO KISE. 47 

' Douglass, in liis work on missions, says, There are 
three agents winch will soon be entwined with the issues of 

thesis at Wittcmberg, and published a dissertation " on the absence 
of sensation in the soul, and its presence in the human body ;" was 
appointed Professor, and the same year supported a thesis " on the 
distinction which ought to be made between the operations of mind 
and those of sense." He also distinguished himself in Mathematics. 
In an account of his life, published by the academic council, his in- 
tegrity, talents, industry, and erudition, are very highly commended. 
Francis Williams, a negro, born in Jamaica, was educated in the 
University of Cambridge in England ; he opened a school in Jamaica 
for instruction in Latin and Mathematics, and wrote many pieces in 
Latin verse which discovered talents of good order. Job Ben Solo- 
mon, son of the king of Bunda, on the Gambia, was taken in 1730, 
and sold in Maryland. " He afterwards found his way to England, 
where his talents, dignified air, and. amenity of character procured 
him friends, and among the rest Sir Hans Sloane, for whom he trans- 
lated several Arabic manuscripts. After being received with distinc- 
tion at the court of St. James, he was sent back to Africa." His let- 
ters which he afterwards wrote to his friends in England, and 
America were published and read with interest. He is said to have 
been able to repeat the Koran from memory. Thomas Fuller, a 
native African, resident for some time near Alexandria, District of 
Columbia, although unable to read or write, was an extraordinary 
example of quickness in reckoning. Being asked in company, for 
the purpose of trying his powers, how many seconds a person had 
lived who was seventy years, seven months, and seven days old, he 
answered correctly in a minute and a half. On reckoning it up after 
him, a different result was obtained by the company. " Have you 
not forgotten the leap years?" said the negro. These they had for- 
gotten ; the omission being supplied, the answer of the negro was 
found to be right. This account was given by Dr. Rush, when Ful- 
ler was 70 years old. James Derham was once "a slave in Phila- 
delphia : in 1788, at the age of twenty-one, he became the most dis- 
tinguished physician in New-Orleans. 'I conversed with him on 
medicine,' says Dr. Rush, ' and found him very learned ; I thought I 
could give him information concerning the treatment of diseases, but 
I learned more from him than he could expect from me.' " Boer- 
haave and De Haenhave given strong testimony to the medical skill 
of not a few blacks. Several are mentioned as having been very dex- 
terous surgeons. " Joseth Rachel, a free negro of Barbadoes, was 
another Howard. Having become rich by commerce, he devoted all 



48 TRAVELLERS IN AFRICA. 

nil human affairs, and are the very hinges on which the mo- 
ral world will speedily turn. The three things in which the 
present age excels the ancients, are the Inductive Philoso- 
phy. Printing and Universal Education.*' When these pow- 
ers come to bear upon Africa, as soon they will with energy, 
we shall see — at least, the living will see in Africa a new 
world.' 

' I wonder, Pa, what degree of credit we are to give to 
the accounts of travellers in Africa. If they have not indulg- 
ed the imagination very freely, we have a great deal to learn 
\ el respecting Africa's present state V 

' I suspect my daughter has been reading a little more 

his property to charitable uses, and spent much of his time in visit- 
ing prisons to relieve anil reclaim the wretched tenants. He died 
in 1758." "Jasmin Thoumazxab was born in Africa : having ol> 
tuined his freedom in St. Domingo, in 17 J6\ he established a hospi- 
tal at the Cape for poor Degrees and mulattoos. and during more than 
forty years, assisted by bis \i tie, devoted bis time and fortune to their 
comfort." •• IIaxxiuai.. an African negro, rose to the rank of Lt. 
General and Director of artillery under Peter the Great of Russia. 
His son was also a Lt. General in the Russian corps of artillery." 
L'r.NJAuiN Bannakeu, a negro of Maryland, applied himself to 
Astronomy with so much success that he published almanacs in 
Philadelphia for the years 1794 and 1795." Blumenbach, from 
whom lie- pi< ceding instances are chiefly taken, possessed a library 
Composed entirely of works written by negroes. He says. " There 
is not a single department of taste or science in which these people 
have DOt been distinguished." Dr. Blumenbach is the author of a 
most able and scientific treatise on the varieties of the human spa- 

; d was better qualified than any other person to decide upon 
their constitutional differences. Prof. B. "sarcastically observes, 
that entire and large provinces of Europe might lie named, in which 
it WOUld be difficult lo meet with such good writers. poets, philoso- 
phers, and correspondents of the French academy; and. on the other 
hand, that then- is do savage people which have distinguished them- 

by such examples of pi rf< ctibility and even capacity for scien- 
tific cultivation ; and consequently th.it none can approach more 
Dearly to the polished nations of the globe, than die oegro." — See 
Blumrnbtich's Dcylrugc zur SaturgcschichU — Rccs EncycJo. — and Grif- 
fin'* Pica. 



AFRICANS NOT NATURALLY INDOLENT. 49 

respecting this people of " obtuse intellect" since in these 
conversations we turned our thoughts to the subject V 

' I have. I have been looking over such works as I can 
find. Denham and Clapperton's Expedition I think is very 
interesting, i have also been looking into Bruce's Travels, 
and Riley and Adams.' 

' In answer to your question — all recent discoveries seem 
to vindicate the veracity of Bruce, although, while he lived, 
it was his fate to be doubted, contradicted, and even ridi- 
culed for a narrative which is now thought to be true. Riley 
and Adams are doubtless entitled to some credit ; but may 
not, in all respects, be considered so good authority as Den- 
ham and Clappcrton. The travels of Barrow, La Vaillant, 
and Mungo Park, you will also find full of interest. Africa 
has been the scene of much fiction in times past ; the unex- 
plored region of all that is wonderful. The color of her in- 
habitants — her vast and impenetrable deserts — and the fate 
of those who attempted to explore her interior, have served 
at the same time to inflame the curiosity and quicken the im- 
agination. Hence, vague reports of paradisaical beauty and 
wonderful fertility ; oases, in oceans of sand, the inacessible 
abodes of the blest ; and rumors of supernatural wonders 
seen by travellers more fortunate than others ; all which are 
to be regarded as mere fiction. The accounts of later tra- 
vellers have drawn upon the imagination less, and arc to be 
considered as authentic. We have, without doubt, very im- 
perfect ideas as yet, of the amount of Africa's population, 
her resources, or her comparative mental energy. That 
whole continent will yet, and that soon, if I mistake not, be- 
come the fruitful source of amazing interest, and the scene 
of wonderful developments.' 

' From all that can be gathered from the reports of tra- 
vellers and from our own observation, do you not think, Sir, 
that we are justified in the inference that the Africans are 
naturally an extremely indolent race'?' 

'This accusation has been preferred against them, and 
3 



50 CAUSES OF INDOLENCE. 

probably with greater truth than visually pertains to asser- 
tions of those who would deprive the race of every good 
quality, mental or social ; hut even this charge is, I suspect, 
somewhat exaggerated. All people, of every nation and 
color, are indolent, except as stimulated to labor, activity 
and enterprise, by the spirit of property, utility, or plea- 
sure : 

'• The Lest of men have ever lov'J repose." 

'The negroes of Senegal are remarkably industrious. 
Since the suppression of slavery there, their villages are re- 
built, and repeopled, and there is the show of a commend- 
able spirit of enterprise. Unmolested in their possessions 
and enjoyments, they have motive to industry. The Abbe 
Gregoire says of the inhabitants of Axiaim, on the Gold 
Coast, and also of those of the country ofBoulam, that "they 
are industrious." "Those of the country of J ago," he adds, 
are " celebrated for an activity which enriches their country. 
Those of Cabomonte and of Fido are indefatigable cultiva- 
tors; economical of their soil, they scarcely leave a foot- 
path to form a communication between the different posses- 
sions. They reap one day. and the next day sow the earth." 

'In many parts of Africa there is such luxuriant abun- 
dance of all thai is necessary to the sustenance and comfort 
of its inhabitants, that indolence follows as a matter of 
course. Besides, they are often exposed to continual inroads 

from their enemies, and where nothing is certain, save (heir 

constant liability t<> surprise, capture, or death, it may na- 
turally be expected thai the people will be indolent, for 

there is no incentive to effort. Many .it' those we see in our 

own country, whether natives of Africa, or descendants of 
Africans, have acquired indolent habits through the f< >rce of 
circumstances; bu1 nothing, surely, is to be inferred from 
this feci to the disparagemenl of Africans more favorably 

situated : 

•■ Qnii enim virtntem unplectitui iptam 
" Premia u lollai 



HENRY DIAZ. 51 

1 It has sometimes been supposed that this portion of the 
human race are also more inclined to vicious habits gene- 
rally, and unruly passions, than others. If this be true, it may 
grow out of the circumstances in which they are placed. Ig- 
norance and crime are nearly allied. And were there no 
other cause, habits of indolence would beget other evils. 
The poet has shown some knowledge of human nature and 
also of sound philosophy, who said, 

" O mortal man, who livest here by toil, 
Do not complain of this thy hard estate : 
That, like an emmet, thou must ever moil, 
Is a sad sentence of an ancient date ; 
And, certes, there is for it reason great ; 
For, though sometimes it makes thee weep and wail, 
And curse thy star, and early drudge and late ; 
Withouten that would come an heavier bale, 
Loose life, unruly passions, and diseases pale." ' 

1 The Africans are not only generally considered consti- 
tutionally indolent, but cowardly, are they not, Pa?' 

' The Portuguese historian, Borros, says that negroes are, 
in his opinion, preferable to Swiss soldiers, whose reputation 
for bravery has generally stood high. In 1703 the blacks 
took arms for the defence of Guadeloupe, and " were more 
useful than all the rest of the French troops." At the 'Same 
time, they bravely defended Martinico against the English. 
The honorable conduct of the negroes at the siege of Savan- 
nah, and at the taking of Pensacola, is well known. During 
the Revolution, when incorporated with the French troops, 
they shared their danger and their glory. 

'You probably recollect the mention of Henry Diaz, 
who is extolled in all the histories of Brazil : he was a ne- 
gro, and once a slave. He became colonel of a regiment of 
soldiers of his own color. He was talented, sagacious, and 
brave. In battle, struggling against vast superiority of num- 
bers, and perceiving that some of his soldiers were discou- 
raged and began to give way, he thrust himself into their 



52 OTHER TRAITS. 

midst, and crying out, u Are these the brave companions of 
Henry Diaz f his speech and example inspired them anew 
-with courage; the enemy, who supposed themselves vic- 
torious, were attacked with an impetuosity which forced 
them to retreat and finally to capitulate. " In 1745. in the 
midst of his exploits, this brave man had his left hand 
wounded by a ball ; and in order to spare the delay of dress* 
ing, he caused it to be amputated, saying that viuhjinc/erof 
his right hand was worth a left hand in combat." ' 

'1 suppose, Sir. that in other moral qualities, they may 
not be interior, naturally, to other people ; hut we have been 
so much accustomed to think disparagingly of Africans, that 
the force of habit is still strong, notwithstanding any light 
which is shed upon the understanding. 1 think, however, 
that 1 am fast rising above prejudice.' 

' Africans are capable, I doubt not. of every noble trait 
of character; and those qualities which are the greatest or- 
nament to humanity, are often exhibited by them to our 
admiration. You recollect the anecdote which Mr. Newton 
tells of a negro whom he. one day. accused of imposture and 
injustice 1 The negro, with wounded pride, replied, "Do 
you take me for a white man f" Proyart, in his history of 
Loango, asserts that if the negroes who inhal.it the coasts, 
and associate with white men, are inclined to fraud and other 

\ices. those who have not had intercourse with the whites, 

are humane, obliging, and hospitable. Wadstrom, who boasts 
of their friendship, thinks their sensibility more mild and 
affecting than that of the whites. Captain Wilson, who lived 

among them, speakfl highly of their constancy and friend- 
ship; they ahed tears at his departure. Goldberry inveighs 
against the presumption with which Europeans despise and 
calumniate nations, improperly called savage, among whom 
we fmd men of probity, models of filial, conjugal and pater- 
nal affection, who know all the energies and refinements of 

virtue; among whom sentimental impressions are more 
de,p. because thej observe, more than we, the dictates of 



LOUIS DESROULEAUX. 53 

nature, and know how to sacrifice personal interests to the 
ties of friendship. Robin speaks of a slave of Martinico, 
who, having gained money sufficient to purchase his own 
freedom, purchased with it his mother's. Mungo Park says, 
the most horrible outrage that can be committed against a 
negro, is to curse his father or his mother, or to speak of 
either with contempt. " Strike me," said a slave to his mas- 
ter, "but curse not my mother I" Park speaks of a negress 
having lost her son, and finding consolation in the fact that 
he had never told a lie. Cassaux relates, that a negro, see- 
ing a white man abuse his father, said, " Carry away the 
child of this monster, that it may not learn to imitate his 
conduct." Stedman says, " Several Maroons " had been con- 
demned to the gallows : one had the offer of his life, on con- 
dition of his becoming the executioner of his fellows; but he 
refused. The master ordered one of his negroes to perform 
the office. " Wait," said he, " until I get ready." He then 
went into the house, took a hatchet, and cut off his hand ; 
when, returning, he said to his master, " Order me to be the 
executioner of my comrade!" Captain Sudbury, of the En- 
glish navy, received a consignment of gold dust, valued at 
£13,000, (over $60,000,) from the slave coast of Africa, as 
a present from one of the native princes, whom, with a 
whole cargo of slaves which he had captured, he had freed 
from slavery. 

' There is an interesting anecdote of Louis Dcsrouleaux, 
which I will here repeat. Dcsrouleaux was once a slave. 
His master who was possessed of great riches, had been 
engaged in the slave trade. He became poor and returned 
from France to St. Domingo, where his slave, Dcsrouleaux, 
had become free, and had himself acquired a fortune. Pin- 
sum, the master, was scarcely recognized now by those who 
professed for him great friendship when he was rich. Des- 
rouleaux heard of his old master's misfortunes, hastened to 
find him, supplied him with honorable lodging and board, 
and then proposed to him that he would lie most happy liv- 



54 INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 

ing in Trance where his feelings would not be mortified by 
the sight of ungrateful men. On Pinsum replying, 'lean- 
not find subsistence in France,' Desrouleaux asked if an an- 
nual income of fifteen thousand trains would suffice? — The 
Frenchman wept with joy — the negro signed the contract, 
and the pension was regularly paid.* 

'Before we close this conversation, I must just refer to 
one specimen of the interior of Africa, their splendor, arts, 
industry, genius, regard for bravery, eve. which was fur- 
nished by Lieut. Laing. of the British Navy, who, under in- 
structions from the Governor of Sierra Leone, went on a 
mission far in the interior. It relates to his visit to the 
Chief of the Solimas, King Yaradee. 

'After visiting different chiefs by whom he was well re- 
ceived, Lieut. Laiug came to a place called Koukundi, a vil- 
lage of farms belonging to the people of Melieouri. Here 
he remained during the night, and early in the morning en- 
tered the town itself, which was walled round, with port 
holes for musketry, and was impregnable. The country in 
the neighborhood was abundantly productive, and in a high 
state of cultivation; corn, barley, rice, cassada, and cotton 

*" The travels of Barrow, Le Yaillant, and Park, abound with 
anecdotes honorable to the moral character of the Africans, and 
proving that they betray no deficiency in the amiable qualities of 
the heart One of these gives us an interesting portrail of the chief 
of a tribe: 'His countenance was Btrongly marked with the habit of 
reflection. Vigorous in bis mental, ami amiable in the personal 
qualities, Gaika was at once the friend and ruler of a happy people, 
who universally pronounced bis name with transport, and blessed 
his abode as the seat of felicity. ' .Many highly polished European 
kings would appear to little advantage by tin- side of this savage. 
We see no reason to doubt that the negroes, taken altogether, aro 

not inferior to any variety of the human race in natural goodness of 
heart. It is consonant to our experience of mankind in general, 
that the latter quality should be deadened, or completely extin- 
guished in the slave-ship or on the plantation." — Reei Enclyco. 

It is doubtful whether any other people would exhibit, in the 
same circumstances, greater native goodness of heart than the negro. 



KING YARADEE. 55 

growing in great profusion. Lt. L. says he passed several 
hundred acres of such cultivation. The next day he pro- 
ceeded to the camp, about eight miles distant north, and 
which was about three hours south of Fouricaria. Immedi- 
ately on his approach, the drums and other warlike instru- 
ments were in motion, and soon about 12,000 people were 
assembled in a large square, in the centre of the savannah 
on which an immense army was encamped, and Lt. L. com- 
municated the object of his visit, which was to explain the 
footing on which the Colony of Sierra Leone wished to stand 
with the neighboring nations. King Yaradee, who was one 
of the most warlike of the African monarchs, he found sur- 
rounded by his brave chiefs, under an ample tent, seated 
upon the skin of a lion. The king kindly invited Lt. L. to 
take a seat by his side. The following song impromptu, in 
their own language, was then sung by a minstrel : 

" A stranger has come to Yaradee's camp 
Whose bosom is soft and is fair; 
He sits by the valiant Yaradee's side, 
And none but the valiant sit there. 

Like the furious lion Yaradee comes 

And hurls the terrors of war; 
His enemies see him, and, panic-struck, flee 

To the woods and the deserts afar. 

By the side of this hero, so valiant and brave, 
Sits the stranger whose skin is so fair ; 

He lives on the sea, where he wanders at will, 
And he knows neither sorrow nor care. 

Then look at the stranger before he departs ; 

Brave Yaradee, touch his soft hair; 
The last note of my harp swells to Yaradee's praise, 

While I gaze on the stranger so fair." 

'The Solimas are great singers. The great deeds of 
the Solima chiefs, as well as the history of their wars, are 



56 FORMER GRXATKX88. 

handed down to posterity by means of Jelle or singing-men, 
in songs composed much after the manner of Ossian.' 

'Those lines are very sweet,' said II. 'and the scene 
must have been very imposing. 1 

'The Africans are sweet singers,' said C. 'but I acknow- 
ledge the time 1ms been when I thought them capable of 
sound only — not of sentiment.' 



(DDFYESSM'SDI! VI. 



"From Guinea's coast pursue the lessening sail, 
And catch the Bounds that sadden every gale. 
Tell, if thou canst, the sum of sorrows there; 
Mark the fixed gaze, the wild and frenzied glare, 
The racks of thought, and freezings of despair! 
But pause not there — beyond the western wave, 
Go see the captive bartered as a slave ! 
Crush'd till his high, heroic spirit bleeds, 
And from his nerveless frame indignantly recedes." — Rogers. 

'I have been thinking, Pa,' Bald Caroline, 'it is a 
fact somewhat remarkable that perhaps the first intimation 
which we find in ancienl history of great Learning among 
any people, is that which in Mosaic history points us to Af- 
rica, Moses, you kiiow.it is sa'ul. was skilled in all the 
wisdom of the Egj ptians!' 

'You have, indeed, referred to a striking and decisive 
evidence of the greatness of African attainments at a very 
early period. We have conclusive and irresistable proof of 
their quondam greatness also In their works of art, many of 
which, such as pyramids, obelisks, and mausolea, still stand. 



INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 57 

as if in mockery of the very credulity of man, a memo- 
rial of their spirit and skill. True, many will say, that the 
ancient Egyptians were a very "different race of beings 
from those tribes which have supplied the world with slaves;" 
but admit that they were in some respects different, the re- 
ference to them is sufficient to invalidate the sweeping de- 
clarations of many in regard to Africans. There are, how- 
ever, proofs of former greatness and of present suscepti- 
bility of great improvement, and of high advances in ge- 
nius and learning, among other portions of the African race. 
And Mr. Thompson, Governor of Sierra Leone, in a letter 
to a distinguished gentleman of Massachusetts, published 
some time since, says that he brought from Africa manu- 
scripts sufficient to convince him that the interior of that 
great continent is even now in a vastly higher state of civi- 
lization and improvement than the residents on the coast 
have any idea of.' 

' Has it not been said that tribes have been discovered 
in the interior of Africa who are Christians'? If I recollect, 
missionaries of the London Church Missionary Society for 
Egypt and Abyssinia, found a tribe never before visited by 
Europeans, who appeared to have much in their faith that is 
scriptural, and whose general practice is commendable.' 

' Fragmentary Churches doubtless exist in some parts 
of the East that are surrounded by, or covered with great 
moral darkness ; and I know not but as the churches in 
Syria, of which the Rev. Dr. Buchanan gives so interesting 
an account, are thought to possess claims to apostolic origin, 
so the people of Abyssinia, to whom you refer, may be re- 
garded as Christians.' 

' You have spoken, Sir, of some large cities visited by 
Lt. Laing, or other travellers : do you suppose that such 
settlements are common in the interior?' 

'All who have travelled at all in central Africa have 
found there very populous and highly cultivated countries, in 
which were large cities, some of 30,000, and some of 50,000, 



58 COLOR OF BEAUTY. 

or more inhabitants. To these marts resort all the people 
in the neighborhood, as in our own country to our large 
cities and towns, and caravans as -well as single merchants 
from the most remote regions.' 

' I suppose, Pa, that the people in Africa have no idea 
that their color is regarded by other nations as a blemish, 
;iik1 that they are therefore perfectly satisfied with them* 
selves in that respect?' 

' Indeed, they are well satisfied. Whiteness, when first 
beheld, is shocking to them ; they attribute it to disease. 
A charitable old woman who afforded Park a meal and 
a lodging, on the banks of the Niger, could not refrain, even 
in the midst of her kindness, from exclaiming, ki God preserve 
us from the Devil !" as she looked upon him. And it is 
said to have been a common subject of regret among the 
o-irls at Bornou, that Denham and Clapperton were white. 1 
' Oh ! Pa. you are jesting, 1 know.' 
4 Indeed, Caroline, I am not.' 

' It may be that it has been said as you represent, 
but'— 

Henry here remarked that 'Herodotus has said "The 
Ethiopians excel all other nations in 2^rsonal beauty.' 1 '' If 
black be a mark (if beauty, Caroline,' he mischievously 
added. l you would stand but little chance of making con- 
quest by your color, of an ebony .Ethiop, or of making the 
best market of yourself in Africa. 1 

1 Indeed. Henry, I think I should not repine.' 
' But to he serious,' continued Mr. L. ' it is a singular 
fact that when the blacks have taken precedence of the 
whites in civilization, science, and political power, no preju- 
dice has appeared to exist against the color. The black 
Prince, Memnon, who served among the Trojan auxiliaries 
at th' e of Ti-.-v, is constantly spoken of, by the Greek 
and Latin authors, as a p< rson of extraordinary beauty. He 
is qualified as the Son of Aurora, or the Morning. The pre- 
judice against the color of the blacks, many contend, (and I 



SLAVERY IN AFRICA. 59 

shall not undertake to controvert their argument, although I 
freely acknowledge my own views would lead me to treat 
with great disapprobation any plea for amalgamation,) has 
grown out of the relative condition of the two races.' 

Caroline here inquired, ' Have not the Africans many 
slaves among themselves, in Africa 1 If I recollect, Mr. 
Clapperton says the domestic slaves are numerous.' 

' There is a great deal of domestic slavery in different 
parts of Africa ; but it has been asserted that, for the most 
part, slavery, except as slaves are taken to be sold to the 
slave-merchants on the coast, is a different thing in Africa 
from what it is among us. I know not that it is said that the 
slaves are treated better than with us ; but it is thought that 
they are there viewed more as members of the family to 
which they are attached than as slaves. Still, I am inclined 
to think that this is a gloss which a comparison would not 
justify.' 

Henry suggested, at this point, that slavery is bad 
enough, in any country, and under any circumstances. 
• Nothing,' said he, ' I am sure, can make amends for the loss 
of liberty — nothing, I mean, that man can offer.' 

Mr. L. said, ' No doubt there has been many an instance 
of that which Montgomery has so finely expressed, 

" The broken heart which kindness never heals — 
The home-sick passion which the negro feels 
When toiling, fainting, in a land of canes, 
His spirit wanders to his native plains, 
And 'neath the shade of his paternal trees, 
His little lonely dwelling there he sees, 
The home of comfort." ' 

1 1 have seen it stated,' said Henry, ' that in some parts 
of Africa they hunt for slaves for transportation just as they 
would hunt for wild beasts.' 

' It is said that in Bornou, for instance,' replied Mr. L. 
' where the slave-trade is carried on to an immense extent 
and is the principal traffic, the mode in which slaves arc pro- 



00 MIDDLE PASSAQK. 

cured is very summary : A caravan of Moorish merchants ar- 
rives, and they offer goods for slaves. If there are no slaves 
on hand they musl be procured The Sultan immediately col- 
lects his forces, inarches into the country of some harmless 
tribe, bums their villages, destroys their fields and flocks, 
massacres the infirm and old, and returns with as many able 
bodied prisoners as he can seize. Sometimes 3,000 have 
been obtained in a single " ghrazie," as these expeditions are 
called. The way in which slaves are obtained is somewhat 
different in different parts of Africa, and yet is very similar 
in all. 5 

The family all exclaimed, ' How horrible!' 
Mr. L. resumed, ' The horrors of the slave-trade in Afri- 
ca arc great. Distressing, however, as is the situation of the 
captive when first 

" before Lis eyes 
" The terrors of captivity arise," 

his sufferings arc greater in what is called the " middle pas- 
sage," (that is during the voyage) it* be be shipped to a dis- 
tant land; and if they be carried, to supply the northern 
market, across the great desert, their sufferings are repre- 
sented as even greater. Driven by Arab merchants to the 
North (.{'Africa, through the deep and burning sands of Sa- 
hara, scantily supplied with water, they sink in great mini- 
under their sufferings. Denham and his companions 
saw. in their journcyings, melancholy proofs of the horrors 
attending this -middle passage" over land. They at one 
time haired near a well around which were lying more than 
one hundred human skeletons, some of them with the skin 
still remaining upon the bones. "They were only blacks? 

■aid the Arabs, when they observed the horror Of the travel- 
lers, and then began to knock about the limbs and skulls 

with the butt-en. Is of their guns. Denham Bays they w t- 

ed in another place one hundred and Beven skeletons. In 
other instances, they passed sixty or eighty skeletons a day 



A REPROACH TO HUMANITY. 61 

scattered along over that dreary waste. About the walls of 
El-Hamar they saw many, and among the rest, the skele- 
tons of two young females, faithful friends it would seem 
even in death, for these skeletons lay with their fleshless 
arms still clasped around each other.' 

Caroline felt a little faint, but after a few moments' inter- 
ruption, begged her father to proceed. She had no doubt it 
was owing to the heat of the room. Mr. L. with some hesi- 
tancy, continued : ' While, says Denham, I was dozing on my 
horse, about noon, overcome by the heat of the sun, I was 
suddenly awakened by a crashing under my feet, and found 
that my steed had stepped on the perfect skeletons of two 
human beings, cracking their little bones under his feet, and 
by one trip of his foot separating a skull from the trunk, it 
rolled on like a ball before him.' 

' O horrid barbarity ! Poor Africa !' exclaimed Caroline ; 
' how she has suffered ! I do not wonder that wretched con- 
tinent has been represented as " a widow, sitting beneath her 
own palm-trees, clothed in sackcloth, weeping for her chil- 
dren and refusing to be comforted !" ' 

' And are they exposed to much suffering on the western 
coast, when taken to be sent on ship-board, to be conveyed 
to other lands V said Henry. 

' Yes, their sufferings are great, and frequently insupport- 
able. At the lowest estimate, it is said that an average of 
one hundred thousand of the African race have been seized 
every year, and borne across the Atlantic to supply the West 
Indies and the Brazilian market alone. The wars attending 
the capture of such a multitude, make Africa, of course, a 
field of blood, and a scene of great affliction.' 

' And then,' said C. ' the separation of relatives and 
friends, occasioned by the forced removal of the captured, 1 
have no doubt breaks a thousand hearts ; O it is shocking to 
humanity ! And how painful is it to think that much of the 
distress which Africa has endured, has been occasioned, per- 
haps, by our own countrymen ; or, at least, has been caused 



62 AN EVIL FULL OF DANGER. 

by inducements which in our own country, tins boasted land 
of liberty, have been held out to unprincipled men to pro- 
cure slaves and bring them hither ! It appears to me, Pa, 
that encouragement to the slave-trade, in a country like ours, 
more than any other, is dark disgrace.' 

' Yes, my daughter, it was indeed a dark blot upon our 
country's glory. It was felt to be such a stain as no Chris- 
tian nation should tolerate, much less a people distinguished 
above all the nations of the earth for their civil and religious 
blessings, and whose very declaration, published to the 
world, boldly and solemnly asserts that all men are created 
equal; cndoiced by their Creator with the unalienable rights 
of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness* 

' I recollect, Sir,' said II. ' some lines which forcibly il- 
lustrate the sentiment you express ; they go further, how- 
ever, ami notwithstanding the slave-trade is prohibited by our 
laws, reproach us for the continuance of slavery among us : 

"Ar.r. ark r.on.v free; and ALL with equal rights. 
So speaks llic Charter of a Nation, proud 
Of licr unequalled liberties and laws ; 
While, in that nation, shameful to relate, 
One man in five u lorn and dies a slave." 

' Can you repeat further V said C. ' If I recollect, what 
follows is equally elegant, and impressive.' 

' I can imperfectly. I may perhaps do injustice to the 
author by some omissions, or alterations, as 1 cannot promise 
that I shall give the precise original, in totidem verbis : 

" Is tliis my country 1 tliis thai happy land, 
The wonder and the envy of the world ] 

o For a mantle to conceal her shame! 

Hut why / when patriotism cannot Lido 

• This expression has been bysomeof late, confidently prohoune- 
od "false in tact, and contradicted by the word of revelation.'' \\c 
think, however, that no reasonable man can deny its correctness, in 
the obrious sense in which it was intended by the frame rs of the 
Declaration of Independence. 



THE EVIL TO BE REMOVED. 63 

The rain which her guilt will surely bring 

If unrepented ? for unless the God 

Who poured his plagues on Egypt till she let 

The oppress'd go free, and often pours his wrath 

In earthquakes and tornadoes on the isles 

Of Western India, laying waste their fields, 

Dashing their mercenary ships ashore, 

Tossing the isles themselves like floating wrecks, 

And burying towns alive in one wide grave, 

No sooner ope'd but closed, let judgment pass 

For once untasted till the general doom, 

Can it go well with us while we retain 

This cursed thing ?" 

" Will not some daring spirit, born to thoughts 
Above his beast-like state, find out the truth 
That Africans are ' men,'' and catching fire 
From freedom's altar raised before his eyes 
With incense burning sweet, in others light 
A kindred flame in secret, till a train 
Kindled at once, deal death on every side ? 

" Cease, then, Columbia — for thy safety, cease, 
And for thine honor to proclaim the praise 
Of thy fair shores of liberty ami joy, 
TT7»7e thrice seven hundred thousand tcre/ched slaves 
Arc held in thine men land !" ' 

' The poetry is very good, my son, and in some respects 
the sentiment is appropriate. But there are various and 
■weighty considerations connected with this subject which 
must not be lost sight of. The enormity of the slave-trade, 
we all admit, and I am by no means, even in view of all the 
peculiar circumstances in which we are placed, an advocate 
for perpetuating the relation which we find existing in a por- 
tion of our states : I confess, however, that I can neither say 
on the one hand, that duty calls imperatively on all masters 
to throw up at once that legal claim to the services of the 
slave which the constitution recognizes ; nor, on the other 
hand, that all has been done which ought to have been done 
for the amelioration of their condition and the ultimate ex- 



64 Tllli EVIL TO HE REMOVED. 

tinotion of the relation. The subject, I am constrained to 
acknowledge, is attended with much difficulty. In some fu- 
ture conversation I will express my views more fully in 
reference to the subject, at present simply adding that it is 
one of great, increasing, and solemn interest. We are a 
peculiar people, and, as a nation, have hitherto enjoyed unex- 
ampled prosperity. Our success, I doubt not, is to he attri- 
buted, under God, in a great measure to the fact that our 
institutions, since the Revolution, are hased on the principle 
of moral rectitude and the equal rights of man. If we ahide 
by our own professed declarations and principles, we may 
prosper still. But our prosperity will wane — our happiness 
will he of short duration, unless our practice he a consistent 
comment on our national declarations and professions. That 
moral debt which our ancestors contracted when being pre- 
sented with the forbidden fruit, they took and ate, must be 
paid by us, their heirs, (I mean the debt we owe to Africa,) 
or I am satisfied that our country will yet feel the severe 
scourge of heaven ! We must do what we can to redress the 
wrongs we have dune, or our country is ruined! It will be 
of no avail that we have able statesmen, or a faithful admi- 
ni (ration, or that the physical strength and resources of our 
country are our boast, and that we pride ourselves on the 
valor of our armies and the gallantly of our navy, without a 
saer.d regard to the immutable principles of justice. We 
have before us the. experience of ages — the philosophy of 
many an experiment and of mam a failure, iii the history of 
nations; and we must profil by the instructions of the past, 
if we would be successful and happy for any length of time: 
otherwise the period may arrive, when, ere we are aware, 
this gianl republic will be broken, and scattered, and peel- 
ed. Happy should I be to see in every part of our In hived 
country a more strict regard to that sacred maxim, " Righ- 

TK'.r >.i:ss BXALTXTH A NATION."' 

'1 hope and trust, Pa,' aid Caroline, 'thai the kind Pro- 
vidence that has always watched over us for good, will in- 



SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. 65 

cline the minds of this people to a right course, and avert 
from us all calamity.' 

' I hope so. But the slave question is, I fear, pregnant 
with danger '.' 

' You do not think, Pa, that danger is near V 
' I know not at what moment the volcano may burst ; but 
this we all know, that already we have heard its muttering, 
nor has it been without some transient irruptions. The 
Southampton tragedy cannot soon be forgotten ; nor can we 
be blind to the exciting nature of the question in every part of 
the Union. The elements of destruction are indeed among 
us. Nearly two millions of slaves, and five hundred thou- 
sand free blacks, with their rapid increase, in connection with 
the diversity of feeling and sentiment which exist among our- 
selves, and the lack of sympathy for our situation among 
other nations, are, altogether, a tremendous evil. We live 
indeed in a peculiar age. Great changes are taking place in 
the earth. The ball of revolution is moved. 

The age finds all within the vortex drawn, 
The strength of current far too great to stem 
By feigned indifference. 

And something must be done ; for a crisis is near. The con- 
siderate feel this and acknowledge it. What can be done, 
or how a " consummation most devoutly to be wished," shall 
be effected, is an important, serious, solemn question.' 

' I should think, Pa, that there can be but one opinion as 
to the expediency of attending to the subject, and doing 
something effectual to remove the evil entirely from among 



us 



<:>■> 



'And I,' said Henry, 'should think there could be, 
amongst the discerning, but one opinion in respect to the 
advantages of colonization.' 

' In respect to the means most proper to be employed,' 
said Mr. L. ' there is a difference of opinion ; but reflecting 
men generally, as I said before, are beginning to feel, more 
than ever, that something must be done. No one who looks 



06 A. RIGHT SPIRIT NEEDED. 

at the subject with a candid eye can, it seems to me, doubt 
either the expediency of encouraging the colonization of our 
colored population in Africa, or the desirableness of the abo- 
lishment of slavery in our land. Connected -with this sub- 
ject are great questions, which I have said involve great con- 
siderations, requiring the wisdom which is from above, and 
calling for a spirit of prayer, meekness, and great forbear- 
ance. Already are there thrown around it difficulties and 
embarrassment which ought to have been avoided, or rather 
I would say. ought never to have been created. A wrong 
spirit and unwise measures only increase the evil. So seri- 
ous and alarming is it now, that very many are actually 
afraid to look the subject full in the face. What shall be 
done? is a question which they dare not meet, although all the 
while they ./ear that it will force itself upon us in a way that 
shall Ijc most painful. I confess, for my own part, that I 
have sometimes apprehended that an issue may possibly 
come in a shape that shall .demand tears of anguish for rivers 
of blood. May all that relates to this subject be wisely and 
kindly ordered by a good and merciful Providence.' 



(DDirys^3Airaon t:i 



'• We are required to devise some means whereby the political 
evil which we bave inherited may Lx- corrected, ami a foul, unseem- 
lv stniii washed from our national escutcheon. Duty to the colored 
population of our country calls loudly lor it — duty to ourselves de- 
mands it.*' — Gov. Yroom. 

' I have been thinking much, through the day,' said Caro- 
line, ' of our la^t conversation. Self-preservation, it is some- 
times asserted as a maxim incontrovertible, is the first law 



COMMON INTEREST OF OUR COUNTRY. 07 

of nature. It is a law, however, which appears to me to be 
very little regarded, or there could not, I think, be such apa- 
thy in respect to the dangers that surround us. Self-interest, 
I should think, would furnish to the Southern people pressing 
motives to a right course, and that as far as practicable they 
would join in immediate and vigorous action for freeing our 
land finally from the very last remnant of slavery.' 

' The public are awaking to the importance of the sub- 
ject,' replied Mr. L. ' and begin to feel more than formerly 
the urgency of the case. Every passing month the cause of 
Africa's unhappy children is finding new and ardent friends. 
The duty which we owe ourselves, our country, and the 
world, demands of us greater sympathy for that long ne- 
glected portion of our globe. The time, I trust, will come, 
when every band that chafes the limbs or the souls of our 
colored brethren will be loosed. A mighty change has taken 
place, and is still increasing. In this subject the non-slave- 
holding States, as well as the South, have and feel a deep 
interest.' 

' h\ case of insurrection among the slaves of the South, I 
do not see that we should be in any danger, Pa]' 

' We might not be in any personal danger, my son; but 
is not the South as well as the North our country ; are not 
the noble-hearted Southrons our brethren ; and are they not 
every way worthy of our warm affection and respect 1 They 
are indeed part of ourselves. If personal danger were the 
only cause of alarm, we surely could not be indifferent spec- 
tators of a scene of revolt and its dreadful consequences. 
Our interests are interwoven, and bound together by many 
ties. Our intimate friends and connections are scattered over 
the Union, and ourselves, or our children may be on the very 
centre of the crater when the volcano shall burst. There 
are other considerations, however, which should not be view- 
ed with indifference. Such is the genius of our government 
that if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. 
Frequent collisions of feeling, clashing of sentiment, and 



68 SLAVERY DSPBSK8SS THE SOUTH. 

contentions fur opposite interests are painfully adapted to 
sunder the strongest bonds of brotherhood. The existence 
of slavery in our land has more than once been the fertile 
theme of political striti.' in our national councils, the rallying 
point of contending parties. It has engendered much bad 
feeling, and what will be its final result is the subject of 
v.ry anxious speculation and the cause ot" unpleasant fore- 
bodings. To be united, prosperous, and happy, lor any 
length of time, we must be one in sentiment, one in action, 
one in character.' 

' Tin- tariff question did much to provoke unpleasant feel- 
ing between the different parts of the Union, did it not, Pa?' 

'Tariff and anti-tariff views, and the like, have had 
to do in producing the commotions which have convulsed our 
country at different times, than many are aware of It was 
an evil hour when slavery was introduced to this otherwise 
favored land. Its unhappy influence has been gradually de- 
veloped until its curse has become tremendous. Admit that 
we feel its direct influence but little in this part «.'four coun- 
try ; still, it has an influence indirect, which more than all 
things else contributes to mar and jeopard the peace, the 
welfare and the permanency of the Union. "The U:<> is," 
says one of her own distinguished citizens, K SLAVERY is the 
bane and the ruin ot' one portion of our land, and the advan- 
tage of free labor and industry has exalted the other por- 
tion. The natural consequence i-. a morbid sensibility and 
ever wakeful jealousy on the part <>f the depressed; and an 
increasing desire for greater gain and aggrandisement on 
the part of the other. Yes, it is slavery that sinks the 

South! See the w idc-pivading ruin which the avarice 01 

our ancestral government has produced, as witnessed in a 
sparse population ot' freemen, deserted habitations, fields 
without culture; and. strange to tell, even the wolf, driven 
back long since by the approach of man. now returns, after 
the lapse of an hundred years, to howl over the desolations 
of slavery." Their lands worn out. in a great measure, un- 



SLAVERY DEPRESSES THE SOUTH. 69 

der the ungrateful cultivation of slaves ; the population of 
freemen declining, or vending their westward way ; and 
those interests neglected which would have been cultivated 
by a free, white, and working population : the South feels 
but too sensibly every effort which other sections make to 
sustain themselves, as if oppressive of her — whilst, all the 
time, the evil, the root of the evil, is slavery !* The South 

* It may not be amiss to introduce and record here an elegant 
tribute to the North, from the eloquent lips of Mr. Prestos of South 
Carolina, delivered at a public meeting at Columbia, S. C. as report- 
ed in a southern paper. The sentiments expressed, leave the un- 
avoidable impression upon the mind that the great cause of the dif- 
ference to which Mr. Preston adverts, is found in the fact that free 
labor is preferable as a matter of policy and interest to slave labor ; 
and that the South, with all her natural advantages, will never be- 
come what she might be, until the character of her working popula- 
tion is changed. 

" Mr. Preston, in his speech drew a very striking contrast be- 
tween the difference of character of the people of the Northern 
and of the Southern parts of the Union, and Ihe consequently oppo- 
site condition of the countries they inhabit lie said that no Southern 
man can journey (as he had done) through the Northern states, and 
witness the prosperity, the industry, the public spirit, which they 
exhibit ; the sedulous cultivation of all those arts by which life is ren- 
dered comfortable and respectable, without feelings of deep sadness 
and shame, as he remembers his own neglected and desolate home. 
There, no dwelling is to be seen abandoned, no farm uncultivated. 
no man idle, no waterfall, even, unemployed. Every person and 
every thing performs a part towards the grand result, and the whole 
land is covered with fertile fields, with manufactories, and canals, 
railroads, and public edifices, and towns and cities. Along the route 
of the great New-York canal, that glorious monument of the glorious 
memory of De Witt Clinton, a canal, a railroad, and a turnpike, ai - e 
to be seen in the width of perhaps a hundred yards, each of them 
crowded with travel, or overflowing with commerce. Throughout their 
course, lands that before their construction would scarcely command 
five dollars the acre, now sell for fifty, seventy-live, or a hundred. 
Passing along it, you see no space of three miles without a town or 
village, and you are never out of the sound of a church bell. We of 
the South are mistaken in the character of those people, when we 
think of them only as pedlers in horn flints and bark nutmegs. Their 



70 SLAVERY DEPRESSES TI1E SOUTH. 

has injured, and La yel crushing herself) by cherishing an evil 
which will yet be found to be more than can be borne. She 

energy and enterprise are directed to all objects, great ami small, 
•within their reach. At the fall of a scanty rivulet, they aet ap their 
little manufactory of buttons or oomba ; they jilant a barren hill-side 
with broom corn, and make it into brooms at the bottom — and on its 
top they erect a wind-mill. Thus, at a single spot you may 6ee the air, 
the earth, and the water, all working for them. But, at the nme 
tim.-, the ocean is whitened to its extremities with the sails of their 
ships, azid the land is covered with their works of art and usefulness. 

'•.Massachusetts is perhaps the must flourishing of the Northern 
6tatcs. Yet, of natural productions, she exports but two articles — 
granite and ice. Absolutely nothing but rock and ice ! Every thing 
else of her commerce, from which she derives so much, is artificial 
— the work of her own hands. All this is done, in a region with a 
bleak climate and sterile .soil, by the energy and intelligence of the 
people. Each man knows that the public good is his individual ad- 
vantage. The number of railroads, and oilier modes of expeditious 
intercommunication, knits the whole country into a closely compact- 
ed mass, through which the productions of commerce and of the 
press, the comforts of life, and the means of knowledge, are uuiver- 
sally diffused; while the close intercourse of travel and business 
makes all men neighbors, and promotes a common interest and com- 
mon sympathy. In a community thus connected, a single Basil of 
thought pervades the whole land, almost as rapidly as thought itself 
can fly. The population becomes, as it were, a single set of muscles, 
animated by our heart, ami directed by a common sensorium. 

'• How different the condition of things in the South! Here, the 

: the country wears the aspect of premature old age and decay. 

No improvement is seen going on, nothing is done for posterity, no 

man thinks of any thing beyond the present moment. Our lands 

are \ i ally tasked to their utmost capacity of production, and. wh< 

exhausted, are abandoned for the youthful west. Because nature 
has been prodigal tons, we seem to think it unnecessary to do any 
thing for ourei Ives. The Industry and skill that have converted the 
inclement and barren hills of .New England into a garden, in the 
genial climate and fertile soil of the South, would create almost a 
paradise. Our natural advantages are among the greateal with 
which Providence has blessed mankind, but we lack the spirit to 
enjoy and improve them. The rich ore is beneath our feet, and we 

dig not for it- The golden fruit hangi from the bough, and we lift 

not our hands to gather it. The cask of delicious liquor is before 



INTRODUCED BY ENGLAND. 71 

camiot rise whilst the evil remains. She feels it ; and the 
other states see it to be so. It is a subject, however, that 
can hardly be discussed at all in its various bearings with- 
out eliciting sectional jealousy, or party severity, and en- 
kindling mutual animosities, although it is an evil that con- 
vulses and stains the entire length and breadth of our land!' 

' You consider slave labor then as unprofitable, Pa V 

' There are individual exceptions, undoubtedly, in which 
the slave dedicates himself to his master with the most zeal- 
ous and generous devotion ; but generally that labor we 
should suppose most profitable, in which the laborer knows 
that he will derive the profits of his industry ; his employ- 
ment depending on his diligence, and his reward upon his 
assiduity. There is every motive to excite to exertion, and 
to animate to perseverance. Therefore, where the choice 
exists to employ, at an equal hire, free, or slave labor, the 
former will be decidedly preferred, because it is regarded as 
more capable, more diligent, more faithful, more worthy of 
confidence. Where capital is unable to command the free 
labor that is required, as has been sometimes the case in the 
first settlement of some parts of our country, it may there 
purchase that of slaves.' 

'Then slavery was introduced into this country on ac- 
count of the difficulty of procuring free labor in the first set- 
tlement of the country, was it, sir V 

' Yes ; the first guilt of the introduction of slavery into 
this country is chargeable upon England ; and the circum- 
stances are such as show conclusively that where free labor 
can be had, avarice, which knows the way to wealth even 
better than philosophy itself, prefers free labor. When Eng- 
land introduced slavery into her American colonies and 
islands, she had as much free labor at home as the land-hold- 

our eyes, but we are too lazy even to broach it. In thinking, in 
writing, and in talking, we are equal to any people on the face of 
the earth ; but we do nothing but think, write, and talk." 



72 TULICV OF ESULAND. 

ers wanted to employ ; and it has been on this account, 
and this only, that the poet was enabled to say, 

" Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs 
Receive our air, that moment they are free ; 
They touch our country, and their shackles fall." 

The fact is, the respiration could go on well enough in those 
parts of her dominions where free labor was not to be obtain 
cd. Jn America was a widely-extended territory, with a soil 
and climate adapted to the rinsing of the most profitable ar- 
ticles of commerce. In order to render the colonies an im- 
mediate and productive source of revenue, which was the 
settled policy of England, and on which she placed great re- 
liance, (monopolizing at the same time all her colonial com- 
merce, and taking care to increase that commerce as much 
as possible by increasing the productions of the soil,) an im- 
mediate supply of labor was necessary. As an expedient to 
provide fur her colonial wants, sin- commenced tilling her 
colonies with African slaves! She would not tolerate sla- 
very at home, and yel would provide for, and locate the 
evil among her distant children, who, consulting their imme- 
diate profit, and regardless of future consequences, at length 
fell in with the slave-policy of the mother country. 

'The Game causes which induced England to prohibit 
slavery at home, and yet pour slaves into her colonics, it 

may be remarked, led Spain and France ami all the Euro- 
pean powers, who Were supplied with free labor at home, 
but had infant colonics in the West Indies or America, to do 
the same. Instead of waiting for the .New World to popu- 
late with laborers bj the emigration of free men, and the 
natural increase of population, slavery was resorted to a- a 
more speedy method of introducing labor. It was introduced 

to the colonies only, because free labor was not to be had 

there ; and not into tlu' mother country because slave labor 

cannot compete with the free where the employer has his 

choice.' 



CANNOT EXIST ON BARREN SOILS. 73 

' How inappropriate then the praise which Cowper be- 
stows on his native country, in the lines that follow the quo- 
tation which you just now made : 

" That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud 
"And jealous of the blessing." 

If slave labor be so unprofitable, and if the naturally rich 
lands of the South become, in process of time, barren under 
its culture, it is not strange that slavery should have retired 
first from the Northern and Eastern states.' 

' Slavery is a tax that poor soils and cold climates like 
ours cannot endure. The cost of cultivating an unproductive 
soil with slaves, is more than the productions of the soil 
would bring in return.' 

' Yet cold countries and comparatively unproductive soils 
are cultivated by free labor to advantage V 

'Yes; Switzerland, Scotland, and New England, are 
striking examples of it. The freedom and character of the 
laboring population, make these countries populous and 
wealthy, although nature has by no means been liberal in 
her gifts to either of them. Introduce there a system of slave 
labor, and pauperism and famine would be the inevitable 
consequence. It has been well, remarked that "free and 
slave labor move in opposite directions from the same point 
of departure ; and, while one is regularly diminishing the ca- 
pacity of the earth for production, the other is constantly 
nourishing and invigorating its powers." It is an opinion of 
no recent date, but ancient as slavery itself, that the labor 
of bondmen is gradually destructive of the soil to which it is 
applied.' 

' I can appreciate now,' said Caroline, ' a remark of Miss 
Martineau — she says, " The slave system inflicts an inealcu-. 
lable amount of human suffering for the sake of a wholesale 
waste of labor and capital." I have been told that the slave 
population of the South is a great check upon the enjoy-, 
ments of life, and a source of constant apprehension, and of 
very frequent alarm. It seems to me that if I lived at the 

4 



74 THE SOUTHAMPTON MASSACKE. 

South I should have the bloody scenes of St. Domingo and 
the Southampton massacre haunting my fears continually. 

'1 cannot say that 1 ever felt alarmed on account of per- 
sonal exposure at the South, although I resided there, many 
years, in the midst of a slave population chiefly. Your mo- 
ther, however, was once obliged, in company with other la- 
dies and their children, to flee, in the night, several miles in- 
to the country at a time of threatened insurrection. In some 
parts of the southern states such causes of fear and momen- 
tary distress have existed. 

' I suppose, Pa, that the circumstances of the Southamp- 
ton insurrection are recollected by you: will you give us 
some account of it. The leader of that insurrection was a 
negro, was he not V 

'It would neither be pleasant nor profitable to dwell on 
that most melancholy catastrophe. Suffice it to say, it was 
planned by a negro by the name of Turner. He communi- 
cated his plans to a few kindred spirits, who with ready 
minds and hands engaged in the work of preparation. Others 
were gradually prepared for the intended event. When the 
work of destruction commenced they armed themselves 
with hatchets and axes. Turner ascended by a ladder to the 
upper part of his master's house in the silence of night, and 
passing down stairs, opened the outer doors of the house to 
his followers, and told them the work was now open to them, 
Turner himself giving the first blow with a hatchet both to 
aster ami mistress as they lay asleep in bed. In his 
confession, he said that his " master sprung from the bed and 
called his wit'.-, hut it was the last WOrd; another blow laid 

him and his wife both dead.*' The murder of the family, 
five in number, was the work of a -moment. "Not one of 
thru, awoke," said Turner. He continues. •• There was a lit- 
tle infant sleeping in a cradle, that was forgotten until we 
had left the house and gone some distance, when Hair 

"Will (two accomplices) returned and killed it. We got here 
four guns and several old muskets, with a pound or two of 



GREAT VIGILANCE NECESSARY. 75 

powder." They then proceeded to the next house, a mile 
distant. They there shot a man whom they met in the yard. 
It was now day-light. The family in the house took the 
alarm, and fastened the door. With one stroke of an axe 
the door was broken in. They entered, and finding two 
ladies, they killed them, one with a single blow of an axe, 
the other, Turner said, he " took by the hand and with a 
sword struck her several blows over the head, but the sword 
being dull, another negro despatched her with an axe." At 
another house, after having murdered all the family but the 
lady and her daughter, Turner said that one of his associates 
" pulled the lady out of the house, and on the steps severed 

her head from her body with a broadaxe." " Miss ," 

he continues, " when I discovered her, had concealed herself 
in the corner formed by the projection of the cellar-cap from 
the house. On my approach she fled, but was soon over- 
taken, and, after repeated blows with the sword, I killed her 
by a blow on the head with a fence-rail." In this way they 
proceeded until more than sixty persons, men, women, and 
children, fell a sacrifice to the vengeance of their slaves. I 
cannot go through with a rehearsal of all the circumstances. 
I have not a heart for it. "What has been related, nearly 
in the language of Turner himself, will serve to give one 
some faint idea of the horrors of a negro insurrection, and of 
the dangers against which the utmost -vigilance is necessary 
to guard the lives of multitudes. 

' I have here a letter from a gentleman in Georgia, which 
will perhaps enable you to form a more vivid idea of the 
sensation produced when an insurrection is apprehended. 
The letter was written long since. It says, "The papers from 
this state have no doubt apprised you of the excitement 
which prevails here about our black population. We were 
all thrown into great fright and confusion, a few nights since, 
by a report that the negroes on a plantation about five miles 
distant had risen, and were marching direct for the town. 
It was 11 o'clock at night, when the whole population were 



76 



THE EVIL TO MASTER AKD SLAVE. 



in their beds. You cannot conceive, no matter how active 
your imagination may be, the scene that ensued. In an hour, 
every woman and child in the place was transported to the 
largest building in the town for safety, and a large patrol 
placed in front to protect them. I had retired when the 
alarm was given, but we immediately got up and dressed, 

and were soon after joined by Mrs. , with her infant, 

pale as marble. I closed the door, and urged them to lie, 
quiet, and remain in the house; but it was useless — go they 
would — others were gone, and they would not stay to be 
murdered. Finding reasoning lost, I opened the door and 
out we sallied — your humble servant with a half naked babe 
in his arms, and two women by his side, scudding with as 
much speed as a Baltimore schooner under a full press of 
canvass. * * We staid all night. * * The alarm has sub- 
sided, but I do not think we are safe one hour. The very ele- 
ments of destruction are around us, mingling in all our rela- 
tions, and we know not at what moment the storm may 
burst over us. An insurrectionary spirit is abroad, and God 
only knows when it will be subdued." 

' O slavery !' stud Caroline, ' I hardly know which situa- 
tion is more distressing — that of the slave-holder, or his 
bondmen.' 



(BflDOTIEIB&kTOH VHHL 



" What day passes by without the occurrence of some event, or 
the witness of soms scene, which draws from every feeling heart a 
sigh or a prayer for the complete fulfilment of all the most sanguine 
hopes of the friends of colonization ? It is not merely for an unfor- 
tunate portion of our fellow beings, who have been thrown upon our 
charity, that this Society is formed : ourselves, our children, our land, 
and every institution of our beloved country, are deeply involved. — ■ 
Bishop Meade. 

' We are now ready for another conversation on Africa. 
I thought that you, at least, Caroline, retired from the subject 
last night well satisfied with a residence in a non-slavehold- 
ing state, and congratulating yourself, perhaps, that you 
could lay your head on your pillow without the apprehen- 
sion of being aroused before morning by the cry of " an in- 
surrection ?" ' 

' Indeed, Pa, I have thought much of the South ; more, 
perhaps, because I was born there ; and I acknowledge that 
I have often wished to see the land of my infancy and ear- 
liest childhood, especially when I have heard you speak so 
honorably and feelingly of the kindness and hospitality of 
the South, and so affectionately of the many warm friends 
we have there. I have myself formed a very exalted idea 
of the warm-hearted friendship and genuine hospitality of the 
South. I also think I should like their pleasant winters, and 
should relish their summer fruits. Still I cannot say that I 
am, in view of all circumstances, anxious to take up my 
residence, even for a few months, in the midst of so much 
anxiety and alarm as I am sure I should feel in any place 
surrounded by a population composed, in a great proportion, 
of slaves. I can adopt Cowper's declaration with all sin- 
cerity : 



78 DANGEROUS PU.BLICATIOKB. 

" I would not have a slarc to till my ground, 
To cany me, to Ian me while I sleep, 
Ami tremble when I wake, for all the wealth 
That sinews boughl and Bold have ever earn'd. 
No: dear as freedom is, and in my heart's 
Just estimation prized above all price, 
1 had mncb rather be myself the slave, 
And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him." ' 

'Pa,' said Henry, 'arc not the laws of slave-holding 
states very severe in respect to the slave .' The legislature of 
Louisiana adopted very severe resolutions, in respect to slaves, 
and ordered all free people of color who had lately come into- 
the state to leave it within sixty days; did they not?' 

'1 would otTer no apology for needless severity, my son, 
but it is conceded by all that the very existence of slavery 
seems to require some provisions for its maintenance. In 
my own view, the necessity for severe, enactments shows 
slavery to be a great evil. It is pleaded, however, by the 
people of the South, that rigorous laws and those which 
seem to some severe, are made necessary by "the interfer- 
ence of strangers." The resolutions, for instance, to which 
you refer as having passed the Louisiana legislature, were 
adopted a few days alter the arrest in New Orleans of four 
free persons of color engaged in circulating " Walker's Ap- 
peal," called more commonly, hot hat the South and the North, 
u the diabolical Boston pamphlet." This pamphlet was cal- 
culated to endanger the lives of the whole white population 
of the southern country, wherever it should obtain circula- 
tion among the blacks, Even in Boston, although there was 
no law which took cognizance of the act, the municipal Judge 
rct'.-rred to that publication in his charge at the opening of 
the next court, as one of highly reprehensible character, and 
he regretted thai the laws had not anticipated the offence. 

In Georgia, too, about the same time, the legislature thought 
it necessary to impose a quarantine of forty days on all ves- 
sels arriving with free colored persons on hoard, and to 
oblige the captains of such vessel-; to carry away again all 



DANGEROUS PUBLICATIONS. 79 

such persons ; and they also enacted that the circulation of 
pamphlets of evil tendency among domestics, be considered a 
capital offence. The same law makes it penal to teach free 
persons of color, or slaves, to read or write, and prohibits the 
introduction of slaves into the state for sale. These enact- 
ments were in consequence of a message of Gov. Gilmer, 
founded upon a phamphlet of dangerous character which was 
found in circulation in Savannah. Other legislation has 
taken place from time to time, for similar reasons. It is, to 
say the least, truly an unfortunate state of things which re- 
quires such security.' 

' Pa, I can hardly regard any one as a good citizen, or 
considerate man, who would throw these publications, as so 
many firebrands, into the midst of a slave population. I 
should think it would be like casting coals of fire into a ma- 
gazine,' said Caroline. 

' These laws,' Mr. L. further remarked, ' are of compara- 
tively recent date ; and it was to be hoped that the causes 
which led to their adoption, and seemed to render them ne- 
cessary, would cease to operate, and that the laws would be 
altered or repealed. The evil complained of, however, it is 
said, has continued to exist, and that too accompanied with 
aggravated circumstances, which have led to other rigorous 
legislation ; whilst also appeals have been made by several 
of the states through their legislatures to the non-slaveholding 
states, asking them to legislate on the subject so as to make 
punishable in all the states the issuing of such publications 
as strike at the peace and security of other parts of the 
Union. Congress has also been occupied in much un- 
profitable discussion growing out of the present state of 
things, whilst from one part of the country petitions flowed 
in upon the two houses for the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia ; and from another, efforts were made 
to subject the Post-office establishment to such regulations 
that a supervisory power should exclude from the mails 
all publications deemed incendiary, and also to secure from 



60 EDUCATION OF SLAVES. 

our national legislature a pledge that the United States has 
no authority touching the question of slavery, even within 
their own domain, the ten miles square in which our capitol 
is located. The greatest circumspection should, doubtless, 
be observed for the safety of the South, or the consequence 
of remissness on their pert will be the sacrifice of many va- 
luable lives, both among the whites, who maybe the victims 
of an insurrectionary movement, and the blacks, who would 
fall in its suppression.' 

1 Have we reason to suppose that an insurrection of the 
negroes at the South will ever be permanently successful ? 
It was, I believe in St. Domingo?' 

' It cannot be attended with permanent success so long 
as the Union endures. Mr. Clay has correctly remarked : 
" It would be speedily suppressed by the all-powerful means 
of the United States; and it would be the madness of de- 
spair in the blacks that should attempt it. But if attempted 
in some parts of the United States, what shocking scenes of 
Damage, rapine, and lawless violence might not be perpe- 
trated before the arrival at the theatre of action of a com- 
petent force to quell it! And after it is put down, what 
other scenes of military rigor and bloody executions to 
punish the insurgents, and impress the whole race with the 
influence of example !" ' 

'The necessity of keeping the blacks in iynorancc, it 
seems to me, is greatly t<> be regretted.' 

'It is. I cannot myself however, believe in such neces- 
sity. The slave ami the free should !>"ih be instructed. In 
what way instruction should he given may he a matter of 

inquiry. This subject may be regulated according to what 
shall appear safest and most equitable in respect to all con- 
cerned. But t'> withhold moral and religious instruction 
from any human being, is altogether unjustifiable. To be- 
stow generally that instruction also which prepares for the 
enjoyment of freedom, I think, is both duty and good policy. 
If the slave remain a slave, I cannot think that entire igno- 



KIND FEELINGS Of THE SOUTH. 81 

ranee is necessary ; and if he is ever to be free, it is certainly 
necessary that he should be instructed.' 

' I think I have heard you say, Pa, that you have given 
instruction to slaves, and that no objection was made by their 
masters V 

' I have. I do not mean religious and moral instruction 
only either. I have heard a slave at the South recite from 
the Latin and Greek classics. That slave was also acquaint- 
ed with the Hebrew. I have seen negroes at the South ad- 
mitted to equal privileges in some of the first literary insti- 
tutions. I know many slave-holders who disclaim the idea 
that it is necessary to keep slaves in ignorance ; and I know 
not a few benevolent masters and mistresses, who, either in 
person, instruct their slaves, or cause others to do it under 
their direction. This, it is true, is not according to the let- 
ter of the law. Jealousy and fear, perhaps I ought to say 
common prudence, have caused severe laws, which pre- 
clude the instruction, in some instances, of both bondmen 
and colored freemen. Not even religious and moral instruc- 
tion is to be given except under certain restrictions. But I 
believe that any man in whom the community may have 
confidence, might pass his life very usefully at the South in 
the instruction of negroes, bond and free, with the entire ap- 
probation of the whites, notwithstanding all present legal 
enactments, their being little disposition to enforce the letter 
of the law except in necessary cases.' 

' Of what use then are the enactments V 

' The slave-holder, perhaps, will tell you that these enact- 
ments enable the Southern community of whites to keep the 
power in their own hands, against all who would exert a 
dangerous influence ; but that they were never designed to 
operate .except as a preventive of wrong incentives.' 

' You think, Sir, that the laws, in regard to blacks in the 
Southern states, would be of a very different character, were 
it not for the indiscreet measures of men who, professing to 

4* 



62 CIFFICULTr OF EMANCIPATION. 

befriend the slave, endanger the safety of both whites and 
blacks, in their hostility to slavery! 

' I do ; and there are a multitude of facts to which I might 
refer — farts of no doubtful character — in support of that 
sentiment. It is an opinion also which 1 have heard express- 
ed by intelligent blacks at the South, who generally most 
heartily deprecate any interference in their concerns by 
citizens of non-slavcholding States. Their situation is made 
extremely trying oftentimes by such interference. Still I 
would by no means impugn the motives of any class of the 
true friends of Africa. Aspersions are often cast, no doubt 
most unjustly, on the motives of a portion of the advocates 
of universal emancipation. Incendiaries and evil disposed 
men there maybe among them; but indiscriminate censure 
is generally wrong.' 

' Why, Pa, do not the slavcholding States unite, and rid 
themselves of the evil at once ? I am sure they might do 
better than continue to cherish an evil so fraught with dan- 
ger and solicitude. 1 

• My daughter, they feel, (and I have no doubt that under 
existing circumstances the conviction is honest,) that they 
cannot rid themselves of the evil so easily as some imagine. 
There is, the Southron will tell you, a relation between the 
owner of slaves and the unhappy beings who are thrown 
upon him, which is far more complicated, and far more easily 
dissolved, than a mind, unacquainted with the whole subject 
in all its bearings, is apt tosuppose — a relation growing out 
of the very structure of society. Go. lor instance, to the. 
slave-holder, and propose to him to emancipate his slaves. 

lie feels the evils of slavery as strongly, and probably more 
so than you can feel them — and 10 Ao will Bay that he has not 
as much benevolence in his heart as we in ours! The laws 
of his State, framed according to the dictates of the best 
judgment of legislators, forbid emancipation, except under 
certain restrictions, which are deemed absolutely necessary 
to prevent pauperism, and wretchedness, and crime, and ut- 



EMANCIPATION NOT ALWAYS DESIRABLE. 83 

ter ruin ; and here are human beings dependant on him for 
protection, and government, and support. The relation he 
did not voluntarily assume. He was born the legal proprie- 
tor of his slaves, just as much as he was born the subject of 
civil government. This fact is often sneered at, but it is fact 
notwithstanding. And it is his duty, and a duty which he 
cannot well avoid, to make the best provision for them in 
his power. Too frequently, it' would be just as humane to 
throw them overboard at sea, as to set them free in this 
country. Moreover, if he turn them out to shift for them- 
selves, he turns out upon the community those who, in all 
probability, will become, many of them, vagabonds, paupers, 
felons, a pest to society. He will tell you that as a Christian, 
as a patriot, as a philanthropist, as an honest man, and hu- 
mane friend of the blacks, he finds insuperable obstacles to 
the accomplishment of what you propose. He will tell you 
perhaps, that it is " a consummation devoutly to be wished." 
Many, I believe, are precisely of this state of mind. 

' I acknowledge that I have had my northern prejudices ; 
and those prejudices were strong, — they stirred within me 
indignation. But I would now indulge in no sweeping anathe- 
ma against the South. I have been, for years, in a situation 
to sec the tremendous evil of slavery as it is. I can there- 
fore sympathize with the slave-holder who regrets the neces- 
sity which, in a measure, compels him to hold his fellow men 
in bondage, whilst at the same time I abhor slavery. I can 
bear witness also to the humanity of slave-holders in the 
Southern states, so far as my acquaintance and observation 
has extended. It has far exceeded the feeling which I have 
usually found indulged towards blacks in my native New 
England, or in the Western or Middle States. The speci- 
mens of ill-treatment of slaves with which the world is serv- 
ed up, now and then, by the issuing of a new edition of the 
old stereotype form, and which seem to be but too well 
suited to the taste of a large portion of the community, are 
a wretched caricature, and as unfair specimens of the general 



84 6ENTIMENTS OF THE SOUTH. 

treatment which slaves receive as would be the assassination 
and murder of an individual in this State, held up as a 
sample of New York morals. A much kindlier feeling, I 
am satisfied, is indulged towards blacks at the South than at 
the North.' 



©©HVIBIBSMMn US. 



"Frown indignantly on the first dawnings of every attempt to 
alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or enfeeble the 
eacred ties which now link together the various parts." — Washington. 

' There is a way, Pa,' said Caroline, the conversation 
being resumed, ' which some people have, of talking of 
slaves as "property" which is grating to my ears, and at 
which my mind always revolts.' 

' As to that, my daughter,' said Mr. L. ' if any man talks 
of this species of property as if it were his unqualified right 
to hold his fellow-men in bondage without any regard to 
the circumstances and necessity of the case, the whole civi- 
lized world, and the laws of Christian nations, which have 
pronounced the slave-trade to be piracy, are against him. 
It is not often that we hear any man attempt to justify sla- 
very in the abstract, or that we find one who looks upon his 
slaves in precisely the same light in which most people re- 
garded them when the slave-trade was legitimate. 

'There are, I know, exceptions to the generally correct 
and Christian sentiments and declarations of distinguished 
men at the South on this subject. I have read with painful 
sensations remarks that have fallen from the lips of some. 



SENTIMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEN. 85 

A Governor of South Carolina, in a message to the Legis- 
lature of that State, said, " Slavery is not a national evil; on 
the contrary it is a national benefit. * * * Slavery exists 
in some form every where, and it is not of much consequence, 
in a philosophical point of view, whether it be voluntary, or 
involuntary" A Governor of the same State has used still 
stronger language in vindication of slavery. But such senti- 
ments, I am inclined to consider as an anomaly, on the 
whole, and not a fair representation of the views of the 
South ; much less can they receive the approbation of the 
American people. The man who can utter them is far be- 
hind the age in which we live. I recollect also an address 
delivered in South Carolina by one of her distinguished 
sons, in which the speaker maintained that slavery, as it ex- 
ists in the Southern states, is " no greater, or more unusual 
evil, than befalls the poor in general ; that its extinction 
would be attended with calamity to the country, and to the 
people connected with it, in every character and relation ; 
that no necessity exists for such extinction ; that slavery is 
sanctioned by the Mosaic dispensation ; that it is fulfilment of 
the denunciation pronounced against the second son of Noah ; 
that it is not inconsistent with the genius and spirit of Chris- 
tianity ; nor considered by St. Paul as a moral evil." I 
have also noticed remarks upon the floors of Congress, of 
certain gentlemen ; and read several addresses delivered in 
various slave-holding states, some of which take the ground 
that slavery " is sanctioned by the religion of the Bible," as 
well as justified in law ; and one declares " solemnly and 
emphatically," that " if any man at the south makes but a 
movement towards emancipation — equal or partial — imme- 
diate or remote, he is faithless to the duty which he owes to 
his state — faithless to the duty which he owes to his God." 
' Another specimen of Southern views on the subject, 
may be found in a debate which I have before me, that oc- 
curred in a synod of the Presbyterian Church in Virginia. 
A proposition was before the Synod that " all the domestic 



86 SENTIMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEN. 

relations stand upon precisely the same ground in Scrip- 
ture." The Rev. Dn. II. expressed his astonishment at the 
views presented. He " could not agree by any means, that 
the relation of master and slave is precisely the same as 
that of husband and wife. No, nor at all the same. The one 
is a natural relation, ordained of God, and sanctioned by 
Him for the happiness of man ; but the other had its origin 
in injustice and wrong, and is never sanctioned in the Bible; 
unless allusions to it as an existing relation and a tolerated 
evil are so misinterpreted. But because it is an existing re- 
lation, does it follow that it has a basis like that of the rela- 
tion of husband and wife ? God forbid ! The relations differ 
widely and essentially, not only in their nature, but also in 
the fact that one is permanent, and the other continues only 
by the strong necessity of the ease. It is absurd to maintain 
that there is a precise similarity in the relations, either in 
their natural basis or their perpetuity. I, for one, cannot 
consent to any phraseology which looks that way. It is un- 
scriptural and false. I maintain that slavery continues only 
by necessity ; and that it ought to he abolished as soon as 

IT CAN BE, CONSISTENTLY WITH THE GOOD OF ALL CONCERNED."' 

' The Key. Dr. B. a distinguished Professor in the Union 
Theological Seminary, was somewhat opposed to the views 
<if his distinguished friend. lie "denied that the relation 
is unlawful; it is recognized by Scripture. The apostles 
treated it as a relation morally right, considering all the cir- 
eumstances. Nor can any thing he done to counteract the 
incendiary efforts of fanaticism, until we take scriptural 
of this subject; and maintain them from Scripture. It 
is also impossible to do much for the extensive religious in- 
struction of the slaves themselves, unless they are made to 
understand that their masters have a scriptural right to 
maintain their authority. The public mind seems to be 
much ahaken upon this subject, even in our own section of 

Country. But il is a tact established by Scripture, that the 
master lias a moral right to retain his relation to his slaves. 



SENTIMENTS OP SOUTHERN MEN. 87 

There are, however, reciprocal duties for each to perform, 
which are too commonly and fearfully neglected." 

' Another learned Doctor of divinity, the President of 
Hampden Sidney College, did " not think it necessary to 
take such ground. The truth is, that slavery is so much in- 
volved in the very texture of society, that immediate aboli- 
tion is an utter impossibility. Even supposing the existing 
relation to be sinful, the abolitionists are so wild in their 
mode of action that they never can succeed. Nothing can 
be done in the way they are attempting. They do not seem 
to consider consequences at all, or to reflect that the subject 
has intricate relations, and many troublesome political and 
social bearings. On a certain occasion, it is said, an eagle 
caught up an innocent lamb, and was flying off" with its prey 
in the air, when suddenly the intelligent bird was convinced 
of its injustice ; and, desirous of making immediate repara- 
tion, it let go its hold, and dashed the lamb's brains out ! 
Such is abolition benevolence !" 

' The Rev. Mr. L. insisted with much earnestness, that it 
Mas " necessary to take the ground assumed by Dr. B. and 
by the paper read. The churches expect a full expression of 
sentiment on the part of pastors ; and it will not do to give 
the subject the go by, in the way intimated by the last 
speaker. It is not enough merely to denounce the abolition- 
ists, and to say that they are wrong. We ought to give the 
reasons of our difference of opinion, and to let them know 
that we maintain our existing relations with the slaves, be- 
cause the Bible gives us authority to do it.''' 

' The Rev. Mb. S. said, " the paper which has been read 
goes too far. It extenuates slavery, and leaves false impres- 
sions upon the mind. I justify slavery, not from Scripture, 
but from circumstances. Slavery is a moral evil, and ought 
to be clone away as soon as jwssiblc. Better contend for im- 
mediate emancipation, than for perpetual servitude. The 
actual degraded condition of the African race is the only 
reason why slavery ought not to be abolished this very hour. 



88 SENTIMENTS OF SOUTHERN" MEN". 

Ethiopia must one day stretch forth her hands unto the 
Lord, and my prayer is. that that time may speedily cornel 
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are the right of 
all ; and can only be taken away by the claims of a harsh 
and stern necessity. Something ought to be done at once, 
aud effectually, for the amelioration of the condition of slaves. 
But let not this Synod, even in appearance, assume principles 
which justify the perpetuity of slavery.' 1 

'The Rev. Mr. W. said, "that to his mind two firings 
were perfectly clear : 1st. The relation of master and slave 
is justified by Scripture. The Holy Spirit has marked out 
the existence of that relation. 2d. Our Saviour and his 
apostles never intended to interfere with the civil relations of 
society, except by the silent influence of religion upon the 
heart and life. Whenever an attempt has been made to 
force mankind, in anticipation of the preparation which can 
only be effected by the gospel, harm has always been done. 
I cannot but think that the views expressed in the paper are, 
in the main, correct." 

' The Rev. Mr. T. another Professor in the Seminary, 
would "never interfere in a political way with any matter; 
but would touch the subject in a scriptural way. This is a 
Bible question. Slavery has bearings upon very important 
actual duties in life, for which the Bible provides. The ul- 
timate influence of the gospel will change the order of so- 
ciety : but it will be only when all parties are willing that 
the change should take place, and then who will complain 1 
The Bible has power bo break every unholy bond, and to 
set every thing right in society. If any think slavery will 
be eternal, I difler wry much from them. Nor does the 
paper, which lias been read, contain any sentiment implying 
a desire to perpetuate slavery" 

'The B*V. Mr. A. believed "that rash and bold asser- 
tions have unsettled the minds of many Christians in refe- 
rence to slavery. "' lie was for adopting a circular letter, 
giving a scriptural view of the subject "The Bible, no 



SENTIMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEN. 89 

doubt, tolerates the existing relation, in vieiv of the circum- 
stances of the case" 

'W. M. Esq. a distinguished lawyer, remarked that he 
was " by no means satisfied with the spirit and principles of 
he paper. To say that slavery stands upon precisely the 
same ground with the other social relations, is to my mind 
very far from being precisely true." 

'"Such views leave the impression that slavery may 
continue an indefinite period without sin. For if the Bible 
sanctions it, the tiling is morally right ; and if morally right, 
we are under no obligations to remove it. But is this scrip- 
ture ? Must we sit still, and do nothing for the removal of 
this crying evil ? Must we wait for some miraculous inter- 
position of divine agency ? With the Bible in our hands, no 
one can doubt that slavery is inconsistent with its spirit and 
its precepts; and we are bound, therefore, to aim at emanci- 
pation. Lord Chatham once said, that he would never come 
into Parliament, with the statute book doubled down with 
dog's ears to prove that liberty was the birth-right of Bri- 
tish subjects. Nor will I, cried Mr. Maxwell, come into 
this Synod, with my Bible doubled down in dog's ears, to 
prove that slavery is wrong. No, sir, I will not undertake 
such a work of supererogation ! One need read but the first 
chapter in the word of God to be convinced that slavery 
is wrong. How was man created ? With dominion over 
the soul and body of his fellow-man 1 No ! There was no 
slavery in Eden. Nor would there have been any to curse 
the earth, unless Satan had prevailed in the temptation. It 
is preposterous to go to the Bible to defend slavery. Its 
universal spirit is against the institution, gloriously against 
it ! But some have said, that although slavery is wrong in 
the abstract, yet circumstances have made it morally right. 
This phraseology, Sir, I object to. That which is once 
wrong, can never become morally right. It never can be- 
come right in such a sense as releases us from obligations 
to attempt the removal of the original evil. It never can 



90 SENTIMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEN. 

become morally right, in the common acceptation of the 
phrase. The most we can say of it is, that it may be tole- 
rated on account of an imperious and dreadful necessity. 
To say that slavery is morally right, would be a virtual ab- 
rogation of the law of love. Vet, whilst I deny that slavery 
can l»e said to be morally right, I maintain the existence of 
a necessity, which palliates, under the circumstances, the 
temporary continuance of the relation. But mark! 1 found 
my position not on Scripture, nor on the moral lawfulness 
of slavery ; but simply on the fact of a necessity. To illus- 
trate my idea: Killing a man in the abstract is wrong, just 
as slavery is. And yet I may kill a man in a pai-ticular 
case of self-defence. Circumstances justify me ; self-preser- 
vation is a valid plea. And vet I may wilfully kill no man, 
if I can avoid it. lam bound to use every means to re- 

myselffrom the necessity of taking the life of a hu- 
man being. So it is with slavery. I have no right before 
God or men to keep my fellow man in bondage, except in 
view of the peculiar exigency. I may not rest satisfied 
while be is deprived of his liberty. I am bound to make 
every effort for bis deliverance ; and unless I do my best bo 
gej rid of the necessity, I am guilty of the sin of unjustifiable 
slavery — just as mueh as In other circumstances I would 

lilty of unjustifiable homicide But if I am aiming at 
emancipation, and doing that which is 'just and right 1 to my 
slaves, I may, during the interval, preserve my authority 
over them. It is the dictate of self preservation, as well as 
the impulse of benevolence, to do bo. 

•••We must try to get rid of slavery. We have no 
right to cling to our slaves, under the delusion that the 

ture justifies th as morally right By coloni- 

zation we can rescue many from their servile degradation. 
And if an j other rational plan of emancipation is practica- 
ble, we are under obligations which no man may disregard 
with impunity, to embrace the occasion, and lot the op. 
■ free. In regard to immediate abolition,'' said 



SENTIMENTS OF SOUTHERN MEN. 91 

Mr. M. " but one single opinion can flash through the minds 
of this assembly. It is a scheme of destruction and ruin. 
It is casting olf the slave to let him sink. It is adding 
death to injustice, murder to oppression. God forbid that 
we should add this to our sins ! But whilst I condemn the 
immediate abolition scheme, I cannot sanction the princi- 
ples contained in the paper which has led to this discussion. 
Such principles, instead of tranquillizing Christians, would 
only disturb them the more ; because their consciences will 
not stay tranquillized. Slavery is abhorrent to tue en- 
lightened conscience, and all efforts to give it false peace, 
would, in the end, only increase its agitations. I am satis- 
fied that Southern Christians will not receive such princi- 
ples; let not the Synod of this ancient commonwealth sanc- 
tion any principles which seem to justify slavery, especially 
from Scripture. Let us tell the world that we abhor the 
system, and only justify its continuance amongst us by an 
imperious necessity, which our feeble hands cannot now 
control. God forbid that we should assume a position, fa- 
vorable even in appearance, to the perpetuity of human 
bondage !" 

' I have thus occupied your attention by this debate at 
some length, because I think it but a fair expression of 
Southern views and feelings generally on the subject of 
slavery. I need hardly say that the proposition which gave 
rise to the debate was rejected. 

' There are, it is to be supposed, some whose rashness is 
greater than their judgment, who assert principles which 
would find few advocates among the virtuous or considerate 
any where ; but I am persuaded that there is a more correct 
sentiment pervading at the South among the enlightened 
and influential part of the community than is generally sup- 
posed, and perhaps than might be inferred from this debate. 
Otherwise we might have less hope for the slave ; gi'eater 
fear for our country : and be led to endorse in despair the 
words of the poet : 



92 VIEWS OF PATRICK HENKY AND OTHERS. 

" Yet, yet, degraded men ! the expected day, 
That breaks your bitter cup, is far away ; 
Trade, wealth, and fashion, ask you still to bleed, 
And holy men give Scripture for the deed." 

' But to show what have been tho sentiments of the 
South on this subject, still more clearly, and what arc the 
views which, we may expect, still prevail, I will also refer 
to other instances. 

' Says one who has stood high in public confidence at 
the South, " Almost all masters in Virginia assent to the 
proposition, that when the slaves can be liberated xoithout 
danger to themselves, and to their own advantage it ought 
to be done." He adds, " If there are few who think other- 
wise in Virginia, I feel assured there are few such any where 
at the South." 

' It was the language of Patrick Henry, " It would re- 
joice my very soul, that every one of my fellow-beings was 
emancipated. As we ought, with gratitude, to admire the 
decree of heaven which has numbered us among the free, 
we ought to lament and deplore the necessity of holding 
our fellow-men in bondage." 

' Said Zachariah Johnson, in the same debate before 
the legislature of Virginia, when the distinguished Patrick 
Henry uttered the above, — " Slavery has been the founda- 
tion of that impiety and dissipation which have been so 
much disseminated among our countrymen. If it were to- 
tally abolished it would do much good. * * The princi- 
ple (of emancipation) has begun, since the Revolution ; let 
us do what we will, it will come round." 

' Governor Randolph, in the same debate, approved 
the hope " that those unfortunate men, held in bondage, 
might, by the operations of the general government, be 
made free." 

'Judge Tucker, in 1795, wrote, " The introduction of 
slavery into this country, is, at this day, considered among 
its greatest misfortunes." In 1803 he wrote — "Will no'. 



VIEWS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 1 AND OTHERS. 93 

our posterity execrate the memory of those ancestors, who, 
having it in their power to avert evil, have, like their first 
parents, entailed a curse upon all future generations 1 What 
a blood-stained code that must be, which is calculated for 
the restraint of millions held in bondage. Such must our 
unhappy country exhibit, unless we are both wise and just 
enough to avert from posterity the calamity and reproach 
which are otherwise unavoidable." 

' Gen. "Washington, in a letter to Robert Morris, dated 
April 12, 1786, says, " There is not a man living who wishes 
more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abo- 
lition of slavery ; but there is only one proper and effectual 
mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by legis- 
lative authority ; and this, as far as my suffrage will go, 
shall never be wanting." Again, in a letter to the Marquis 
de La Fayette, May 10, 1786, he writes, " The benevolence 
of your heart, my dear Marquis, is so conspicuous on all 
occasions, that I never wonder at any fresh proofs of it ; but 
your late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne, 
with a view of emancipating the slaves on it, is a generous 
and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like 
spirit might diffuse itself generally into the minds of the 
people of this country. * * Some petitions were pre- 
sented to the assembly, at its last session, for the abolition 
of slavery, but they could scarcely obtain a reading. To 
set the slaves afloat at once would, I really believe, be pro- 
ductive of much inconvenience and mischief; but, by de- 
grees, it certainly might, and assuredly ought, to be effected, 
and that too by legislative authority." Again, in a letter to 
John F. Mercer, September 9, 1780, <: I never mean, unless 
some particular circumstance should compel me to it, to 
possess another slave by purchase, it being among my first 
wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this 
country may be abolished by law." 

' Mr. Jefferson asks, " Can the liberties of a nation be 
thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, 



94 SOUTHERN VIEWS. 

a conviction in the minds of the people, that their liberties 
are the gift of God V 

'Judge Washington, in a speech before the Colonization 
Society, expressed (he decided hope that colonization " would 
lead to the slow, but gradual abolition of slavery," and 
" wipe from our political institutions, the only blot which 
stains them." 

' Gen. Harper has spoken of slavery as " a great moral 
and political evil, of increasing virulence and extent, from 
which mujph mischief is now felt, and very great calamity 
in future, is justly apprehended." 

' Gen. Merger remarks, " The hope of the gradual and 
utter abolition of slavery, in a manner consistent with the 
rights, interests, and happiness of society, ought never to be 
abandoned." 

' W. II. Fitzpugh, Esq. who proved the sincerity of his 
remarks by the prospective liberation of all his slaves, and 
a liberal provision for them in Liberia, bears this testimony 
— "Slavery, in its mildest form, is an evil of the darkest 
character. Cruel and unnatural in its origin, no plea can be 
urged in justification of its continuance but the plea of ne- 
cessity — the necessity which requires us to submit to exist- 
ing evils, rather than substitute by their removal, others of 
a more serious and destructive character. There is no ri- 
vitted attachment to slavery prevailing extensively in any 
portion of our country. It a injurious effects upon our habits, 
(Mir morals, our individual wealth, and more especially on our 
national strength and prosperity, are universally felt and al- 
most universally acknowledged." 

' William Gaston, of North Carolina, formerly a distin- 
guished member of Congress, and afterwards on the bench 
<,!' the Supreme Court of that State, in an address before a 
literary and philanthropic society in the University of North 
Carolina, in ls;;-J, said — "On you will devolve the duty 
which has been too long neglected, -but which cannot with 
impunity be neglected much longer, of providing for tho 



SOUTHERN VIEWS. 95 

mitigation, and, is it too much to hope for in North Carolina, 
for the ultimate extirpation of the worst evil that afflicts the 
Southern part of our confederacy ? * * Disguise the 
truth as we may, and throw the blame where we will, it is 
slavery which, more than any other cause, keeps us back in 
the career of improvement. * * Plow this evil is to be 
encountered, how subdued, is indeed a difficult and delicate 
inquiry." 

' Col. Drayton, of South Carolina, in the course of an 
elaborate speech in Congress, sketched a picture of slavery, 
and a brief of the views of the South, which was reported 
in the words following. Col. Drayton was ever regarded as 
not only a man of distinguished talents, but as remarkable 
for his candor, excellent judgment, and honorable feelings. 
" There was not a person who more deeply commiserated 
slaves than he did ; but while their pillows are planted with 
thorns, their masters do not repose on downy beds. The 
miseries extended to the whole circle of society in which 
they move. He spoke from actual experience of these mi- 
series. Could he destroy the evil, no zealous fanatic would 
more easily try to extirpate it than his fellow citizens of the 
South and himself. None know more the misery of slave- 
ry than those who hold slaves. Slavery is indeed a bitter 
draught, and though thousands are made to drink of it, yet 
still it is a bitter draught. Such are the peculiar habits of 
slaves, that they will enjoy the song and the dance, and spend 
the night in revelry and feasting, while the master is stretch- 
ed on a sleepless couch. Would one feeling thus wish to 
perpetuate the evil % Let not such a mistake prevail. It is 
the interest of the master to ameliorate the condition of the 
slaves as much as he can ; and those mistaken philanthro- 
pists who, without understanding the situation of this part 
of the country, intrude their efforts at amelioration, only 
make the condition of the slave more wretched. No one 
can administer successfully to a disease who is ignorant of 
its character. No one can beneficially prescribe, who is 



96 MISREPRESENTATIONS OP THE SOUTH. 

ignorant of the effect of the medicine he administers. The 
citizens of the South know how far to go with safety to them- 
selves, and he who ignorantly interferes, converts intended 
benefits into serious injuries. The Southern citizens know, but 
they suffer none others to interfere. Interference they con- 
sider as an injury, and are disposed to resent it as an insult. 
When gentlemen talk of government having a right to in- 
terfere, they speak without proper consideration." 

' Such are the opinions of gentlemen of eminent talents, 
all of whom are, or were, of the South ; most of whom, if 
not all, have been extensive proprietors of slaves. I may 
here also quote the sentiments and words of that distin- 
guished son of the West, and brilliant statesman, Henry 
Clay. He says, " There are two extremes of opinion on 
this subject, in neither of which do I concur. The first is 
that of those who regard slavery as no evil, but a good. I 
consider slavery as a curse — a curse to the master, a wrong, • 
a grievous wrong to the slave. In the abstract, it is all 
wrong ; and no possible contingency can make it right. It 
is condemned by all our notions of natural justice, and our 
maxims of natural political equality among men. Necessity, 
a stern political necessity alone, can excuse or justify it ; a 
necessity arising from the fact that to give freedom to our 
slaves that they might remain with us, would be doing them 
an injury rather than a benefit — would render their condi- 
tion worse than it is at present." 

' It certainly becomes us to be open to conviction, and 
willing to receive the truth. It is a great misfortune, grow- 
ing out of the actual condition of the several states, some 
being exempt from, and others liable to, the evils of slavery, 
that they are too prone to misrepresent the views and wish- 
es of each other in respect to it.' 

' In some publications, Pa,' said Caroline, ' which Henry 
and I have been looking over since these conversations be- 
gan, we have seen some very unkind remarks respecting the 
South, calculated to wound the feelings of her citizens deep- 



Washington's advice. 97 

ly, and exceeding severe on some of the gentlemen whose 
language you have quoted. In a certain paper, the writer, 
having selected certain passages from the writings of such 
men as Mr. Clay, Gen. Harper, Gen. Mercer, Mr. Harrison, 
President Caldwell, and others, exclaims — " Ye crafty cal- 
culators ! ye hard-hearted, incorrigible sinners ! ye greedy 
and relentless robbers ! ye contemners of justice and mercy ! 
ye trembling, pitiful, pale-faced usurpers! my soul spurns 
you with unspeakable disgust." I cannot think that good 
men, even among abolitionists, can approve of this lan- 
guage V 

' Such severity of denunciation against those who are, or 
were, among the wisest and best men of the country,' re- 
marked Mr. L. ' is wrong, very wrong ; and I cannot think 
it is approved by any considerable portion of the communi- 
ty. The writer is deserving of reprehension. His course 
will rivet the chains of slavery, not loose them. It were 
well for our country, and better for our colored population, 
especially for the slaves, if, in regard to this whole matter, 
every citizen were to cherish kindly and charitable feelings. 
The last advice of our illustrious Washington was, " Frown 

INDIGNANTLY ON THE FIRST DAWNINGS OF EVERY ATTEMPT TO 
ALIENATE ANY PORTION OF OUR COUNTRY FROM THE REST, OR 
ENFEEBLE THE SACRED TIES WHICH NOW LINK TOGETHER THE 
VARIOUS PARTS." ' 



©©imElSMTOH X. 



" We determined not to suffer slavery there > but the slave mer- 
chants and their adherents occasioned as not only much trouble, but 
at last got the then government to sanction them. We would not 
■offer slavery, (which is against the gospel, as well as the funda- 
mental law of England,) to be authorized under our authority ; wo 
d, as trustees, to make a law permitting such a horrid crime. 
The government, finding the trustees resolved firmly not to concur 
with what they thought unjust, took away the charter by which no 
law could be pas-.. .1 without our consent." — Oglethorpe. 

' Good morning, my daughter — good morning, Henry,' 
said Mr. L. as he entered the parlor, quite, early in tho 
morning, ' shall w now, although earlier than our usual hour 
for conversation, turn our attention again, for a few minutes, 
to the subject of Africa's wrongs, and the unfortunate rela- 
tion to her children, into which our country has been intro- 
duced by the policy of England, and the cupidity of her 
traders in human Sesh ? I think \vc shall have an hour be- 
ihe time for family prayer.' 

Caroline and Henry were both pleased with the propo- 
sition. 'Will you tell ub, Pa." said C. "at what time slaves 

were firsl brought to this country, and where they were sold. 
1 shall be gratified to be more familiar with the facts that 
assure us thai our oountry is nol responsible for the original 
introduction of slavery to the Western world.' 

'It will give me pleasure to gratify your wishes in this 
respect The firsl ahipmenl of slaves to our country was on 
the very year thai the - Pilgrim fathers" ofNe* England, 
as th.- firsl settlers of New England are called, firsl steppe. 1 
upon Plymouth Rock, and thirteen years after the first set. 
dement on the James river. The "cargo!" was landed at 



THE FIRST SLAVE SHIP. 99 

Jamestown, and sold to the planters of Virginia. It consist- 
ed of twenty Africans from, the coast of Guinea, brought to 
the colony in a Dutch vessel, under the sanction and by the 
authority of British laws. Although by the purchase of 
these and other slaves which soon followed, individuals lent 
themselves to the oppression of Africa's unhappy children, it 
is due to the colonial ancestry of Virginia to say that they, 
at a very early period, earnestly remonstrated against these 
importations. Their appeals to the British crown were loud 
and frequent, but unsuccessful. They had no voice in the 
government under whose laws slavery was introduced, and 
no control over its decisions. Therefore I have said that we 
are not responsible, as a nation, for the introduction of the 
trade. The origin of slavery in our land is to be referred to 
the agency of a foreign government, and the evil of slavery 
considered as an incumbrance connected with our English 
inheritance. It should be mentioned also to the credit of 
Virginia, that the legislature of that colony, at an early pe- 
riod, enacted laws to counteract the evil, by imposing re- 
strictions on the introduction of slaves ; and that it is, at the 
same time, a matter of history by no means honorable to the 
mother country, that those measures of the colony were dis- 
countenanced, and the laws which the legislature enacted, 
rejected by government as injurious to the commerce of 
England. Thus slavery, with all its unhappy consequences, 
was entailed upon the colonies to promote the supposed in- 
terests of England. It should be understood, moreover, that 
this very conduct of the British crown is a grievance set 
forth in the Declaration of our Independence among the 
causes of the Revolution.' 

' Do you recollect, Caroline,' said Henry, ' those lines by 
Mrs. Sigourney, entitled The First Slave-ship !' 

' I do not ; but I should like to hear them. I admire 
Mrs. S.'s poetical genius ; and take the more interest in 
every thing from her pen, since she was the esteemed friend 
of our dear deceased mother.' 



100 THE FIRST SLAVE SHIP. 

"Fust of that race which curst the wave, 
And from hil rifled cabin bore, 
(Inheritor of WO,) the 
To bless his p . hade no mora ! 

Dire engine! o'er ihe trouble main 

Borne mi in unresisted state, 
Know'st thoo within thy dark domain, 

The horrors of thy prison'd freight 7 

The Fetter'd chieftain's burning tear, 
The parted lover.-,' mute despair, 

The childless mother's pang severe, 
The orphan's agony, are there. 

Hear'st thou their moans whom Hope has fled, 
Wild cries and agonizing starts ? 

Know'st thou thy hurried sails are spread 
With ceaseless sighs from breaking hearts? 

Oh! could'st thou from the scroll of fate 

The Bad of future years, 

Stripes, tortures, unrelenting hate, 

And death-gasps drown'd in ceaseless tears; 

Down, down, beneath the cleaving main 

Thou fain would'st plunge where monsters lie, 

Bather than ope the gates of pain 
For time, and for eternity. 

Oh Afric' ! what has been thy crime, 
Thai thus I fratricide, 

A mark is s. t upon thy clime, 
And every brother shuns thy sideT 

Yet are thy wrongs, thou Long distrest, 
Thy burden by the world nnweigh'd, 

Siife in that rxroROETFii. breast. 
Where ail the sins of earth are laid. 

The sun upon thy forehead frownM, 
Bui man, more cruel far than he, 

fl tters en thy spirit bound; 
Look to the mnntion of the free'. 



SLAVERY IN AFRICA. 101 

Look up, to realms where chains unbind, 
Where powerless falls the threatening rod, 

And whore the patient sufferers find 
A Friend — a Father in their GOD." 

' Oh ! it makes my heart bleed, said Caroline, ' to think 
of the evils of which that first slave-ship was the precursor 
to our country ; and of the wrongs which from that ill-fated 
hour that the cruel Dutchman found a market for his in- 
jured fellow-men, have been so unsparingly meted out to 
Africa by citizens of this highly-favored land. How I wish 
the purchase had never been made.' 

' Were the Dutch the first people who engaged in the 
traffic, Pal' 

'No, Henry, slavery existed in Africa long before the 
transportation of slaves from Africa to this or to any coun- 
try.' 

'It was in Africa that Joseph became the slave of Poti- 
phar ; and the Egyptians, you know, Henry, enslaved Is- 
rael,' said Caroline. ' When I think of these tilings, the 
thought occurs sometimes, that it is possible that Africans 
may again have their day of prosperity, and the whites, who 
are now their oppressors, may in their turn become slaves.' 

' It is too near the dawn of a happier day, I trust, for 
such apprehensions to be realized ; but, my daughter, if such 
an event were to occur, think you there would not be one 
mind among us in regard to the evils of slavery ? The pre- 
judices which now blind the minds of many, that they can 
hardly see any injustice in slavery, would all be removed. 

' The practice of holding slaves, I was remarking, exist- 
ed in Africa long before slaves were transported thence to 
foreign countries. The Moors of Spain and Portugal pro- 
bably acquired the practice from the Mahometans in the 
North of Africa ; and as evil communications and examples 
always have a corrupting tendency, the practice of employ- 
ing and owning slaves soon prevailed among both the Por. 
tuguese and Spaniards, and then among other nations. 



102 rOBXIOM TRAFFIC. 

•The commencemenl of the traffic in African slaves, by 
foreign countries, was probably in the year 1454; when 
Henry, King of Portugal, under authority from the Roman 
Pontiff, t>">k possession of Beveral islands and harbors on 
the coast, and from thence making descents <>n the swarm- 
ing villages of Africa, seized the unsuspecting inhabitants 
and carried them into slavery. It would seem, from what 
of the history of the slave-trade 1 have been able to trace, 
that in 1481 the natives, having become terrified by the 
frequent depredations committed upon them, retired into 
the interior. Their invaders finding it difficult, therefore, 
to obtain slaves in so great numbers and so expeditiously 
as they desired, a treaty was made through the influence of 
bribes and presents, between the traders and African chief's, 
the chiefs engaging to furnish subjects for the inhuman traf- 
fic. Wars between differenl tribes, man-stealing, treachery 
and distrust^ misery and ruin, have been, thenceforward, the 
consequence; and slavery has been the systematized busi- 
ness of i he Beveral tribes. 

■The Portuguese have the credit, in history, of com 
mencing the unhallowed traffic, and of introducing slavery 
into this Western world. In 150$. slaves were carried in- 
to Bispaniola, or Utile Spain, as it was called by Colum- 
bus; now St, Domingo, one of the West India Islands: and 
in the \car 1517 slaves were introduced into the Brazilian 

oies in S< »uth America. 

'It is said that the project of transporting slaves from 
Africa t'> the New World was first suggested by Barthole- 
mi de Las Casas, a Romish Priest. Previous to this time 

adventurers to the Western continent and the islands along 

the Atlantic coast, had, with extreme cruelty, reduced \<> 
servitude the confiding and unoffending Indians, the natives 

<it' the soil. The cruelty with which liny treated the Indians, 

unaccustomed t'> such usage or to any confinement or pri- 
vations, was verj great It is supposed that when the Spa- 
niards discovered the [aland "f Elispaniola there -were on it, 



H1SPANIOLA. 103 

at least a million of inhabitants, (Las Casas thinks there were 
three millions,) formed into kingdoms, and each governed by- 
sovereigns called Caciques. Such was the cruelty shown 
them by the Spaniards, that they were reduced to sixty thou- 
sand souls in the short space of fifteen years ; and from the 
year 1508 to the year 1517, they were further reduced by 
brutal oppression from sixty thousand to fourteen thousand ! 
A formal decree of the king of Spain had authorized this op- 
pression of the natives, declaring " that the servitude of the In- 
dians (was) warrcmted by the laws both of God and man."' 

' A part of the system of cruelty carried on against these 
poor Indians,' said Caroline, ' was the hunting of them with 
blood-hounds, was it not 1 ?' 

' It was ; and these, I am sorry to say, were introduced by 
Columbus, who was in other respects a good and great man. 
Finding the natives determined to resist the oppressions of 
his soldiery, he determined on their extinction, and went 
forth against them with all his strength. The historian says 
that a " part of the force, employed by Columbus on this oc- 
casion consisted of blood-hounds, which made great havoc 
among the native Indians." Las Casas says, in relating subse- 
quent events in Cuba, " In three or four months I saw more 
than seven thousand children die of hunger, whose fathers and 
mothers had been dragged away to work in the mines. I was 
witness at the time of other cruelties not less horrible. It was 
resolved to march against the Indians who had fled to the 
mountains. They were chased like wild beasts, with the assis- 
tance of blood-hounds which had been trained to the thirst for 
human blood."* You recollect the revolting description Lord 

* The circumstances attending the introduction of dogs into the 
South American continent and islands, and their subsequent wild 
state, are thus described in the History of the Buccaneers : " But 
here the curious render may, perhaps, inquire, how so many wild 
dogs came here. The occasion was. the Spaniards, having possessed 
these isles, found them peopled with Indians, a barbarous people, 
sensual and brutish, hating all labor, and only inclined to killing and 



104 BLOOU-HOINDS. 

rives of the fierceness and rapacity of these animals 
when they have once acquired ;i fondness for human flesh: 

■• He raw the lean dogs beneath the wall, 
Hold o'er the dead their carnival, 
Gorging and growling o'er carcass unci limb — 

j were tun bus; in bark nt him, 
1 n in a Tartar's skill] they had Btript tho !'. 
As ye pull a Gg when the i'ruit is fresh, 
The re in the wild dog's maw, 

The hair was tangled round his jaw." 

making war against their neighbors, not out of ambition, but because 
they agreed not with themselves in some common terms of language ; 
nnd perceiving tin- dominion of the Spaniards laid great restrictions 
upon their lazy and brutish customs, they conceived an irreconcile- 
able hatred against them, especially because they saw them take 

don of their kingdoms and dominions; hereupon they made 
against them all the resistance they could, opposing everywhere their 
design* to the utmost; and the Spaniards finding themselves cruelly 

by (he Indians, and nowhere secure from their treacheries, re- 
Bolved to extirpate and ruin them, sine- they could neither tame 
them by civility ; nor conquer them with the sword. But the In- 
dians, it being their custom to make their woods their chief places 
of defence, at present made these their refuge whenever they fled 
from the Spaniards ; hereupon those first conquerors of the Now 
World made use of doga to range and search the intrioateat thickets 
of woods and forests, for those their implacable and unconquerable 
enemies ; thus they forced them to leave their old refuge, and submit 
to the sword, seeing no milder usage would do it; hereupon they 
killed some of them, and quartering their bodies, placed them iu tho 
liigh-wavs, that others might take warning from such a punishment; 

but this severity proved of ill consequence ; for instead of frighten- 
ing them anil rodncing them to civility, tiny conceived such horror 

of the Spaniards that they resolved to detest and fly their sight for 
ever ; hence, the greatest part died in eaves and subterraneous places 

of woods and mountain", in which places I myself have oftl . 

human bone-. The Spaniards, finding no more In- 
to appear abaci the woods, turned awaj a great number of 
they had in their bouses, and they finding no masters to keep 

them, betook themselves to the woods and fields to hunt for food to 

re their lives; thus, by degrees, they' became unacquainted 
villi houses, and grew wild. This is tin- trueht account I can give 
of the multitudes of wild dogs in these pnrts." 



MISTAKEN- FHILANTHKOPT 105 

1 Las Casas, with the support of other ecclesiastics, de- 
voted his life to endeavor the amelioration of the condition 
of the poor Indians. He crossed the Atlantic for the pur- 
pose again and again. He braved all dangers, and shrunk 
from no fatigue in their behalf, but unceasingly urged their 
claims at the Spanish court. In his sympathy for one class 
of his fellow-men, however, Las Casas forgot or disregarded 
the rights of another class. From at least mistaken motives 
of humanity, he finally proposed to the Emperor, Charles 
V.. a project to import slaves from Africa, representing that 
the "warm climate of the South would be congenial to their 
natures, and that thus the labor of the surviving Indians 
might be greatly relieved. This project, unfortunately, was 
adopted, and laid the foundation of slavery in the V»"estern 
World. 

' The condition of the poor Indians, however, was by no 
means bettered. The Bishop of Chiapa, I mean Las Casas, 
had the mortification to find the chains which it was the ob- 
ject of his life to break, rivetted more firmly, while the poor 
Africans became, through his influence, fellow-sufferers with 
the Indians in slavery ! The final and mournful history of 
these Indians has been written, in one sentence, by the bio- 
grapher of Columbus. Says Irving, ''they have long since 
passed away, pining and perishing beneath the domination 
of the. strangers whom they welcomed so joyfully to their 
shores." 

' The error of Las Casas is one into which even good 
men of ardent temperament and philanthropic minds may 
sometimes fall, impressed with the importance of a subject 
which enlists the best feelings of human nature. They may 
take too limited and partial a view of the subject, and lose 
sight of important connections and incidental circumstances, 
in their devoted attention to the single object which absorbs 
their immediate sympathies.' 

Caroline here suggested, ' It would be extremely unfortu- 
nate if by any imprudent, or misdirected zeal, we should be 

5* 



IOC Till". I'LLA MAY BE ABISKD. 

guilty of :i similar error, iii attempting to better the condi- 
tion of the enslaved Africans in our land, and should thus 
bring down upon them ami our country greater evils than 
we are striving to avert. This 1 should infer, is feared by 
some. You, I think, intimated, some time since, that harsh 
and censorious language, and coercive measures, have that 
tendency.' 

'We cannot, with propriety, or with good hope of safety 
or success, be indifferent to consequences; or refuse to take 
counsel of circumstances, in determining the best way of 
promoting any cause, however good. Nothing, surely, is to 
be gained by indulging in contemptuous, acrimonious, or 
threatening language towards our Southern brethren in re- 
gard to slavery. They, it is to be presumed, know as well 
as we the tremendous evils of slavery, and are tar more 
deeply concerned than we in an application of the proper 
remedy. The course which is sometimes taken in regard to 
this subject, is not fraternal, and therefore neither politic or 
Language thai is calculate. 1 unnecessarily to wound, 
and consequently to destroy harmony of feeling, sentiment 
and action, on this important subject, should be carefully 
avoided. Besides, it should be considered that no measures 
can tend to the ultimate benefit of the slaves, in which the 
slave-holders do QOl generally and heartily concur. The best 
interests of slave and master are probably more identified 
with each other, ami involved, than is generally believed. 
There are circumstances which render entire and immediate 
emancipation ruinous to both master and slave; and there 

are circumstances which arc fell also at the South, that ren- 
der it desirable to the master thai slavery should end. 

'At the same time thai 1 make these remarks. 1 must 
also say that no pretence of political necessity can plead a 
valid excuse for those who would perpetrate any wrongs 
whatever. The butchery l>y wholesale, (for it was little bet- 
ter than wholesale butchery,) of the poor Indians in His- 

paniola, was pursued under a arable pretence, that 



A CONSUMMATION TO BE WISHED. 107 

of political necessity. And in the same plea, almost every 
public crime which has disgraced our race, and made the 
world an arena of strife, a field of blood, has found its con- 
stant defence. That whole policy I would repudiate, and 
utterly detest. There may be circumstances, however, which 
render it an imperious duty, doubtless, in aiming even to 
redress the wrongs that have been done, to inquire seriously 
and prayerfully into the best manner, and the most probably 
successful means of redress. Many in our land profess to 
find themselves precisely in this situation in respect to the 
slave question. The evil, say they, is entailed upon our 
country as a heavy curse : and how to bring about its final 
removal in a way that shall be best for the slave, and best 
for the country, is a question of most difficult solution. By 
all, its importance is confessed to be great. In the view of 
many of the most energetic friends of Africa, it assumes a 
magnitude and complicateness which causes the deepest 
anxiety. In my own view, it is a question which may well 
task the wisdom of the wise, and give ample scope to the 
benevolence of the humane.' 

' Why, Pa, to plead for perpetuating slavery on the 
ground that our own interests require it, since the system is 
established, would be to take advantage of our own wrong. 
I hope that slavery will soon be viewed by all as an evil 
that calls loudly for redress, and that our country will yet 
unite in some measures to free our land from the reproach 
of slavery, letting the oppressed go free. I feel great confi- 
dence, since these conversations began, that this consumma- 
tion will be brought about. The subject has assumed, in 
many important respects, an entirely new aspect, in my hum- 
ble view. The evils of slavery magnify, and the " quo modo" 
as Henry says, seems to be attended with very embarrass- 
ing considerations, when we contemplate the extinction of 
the evil. But slavery, it appears to me, must cease ; Chris- 
tians cannot, must not cease to pray and labor for its 
extinction. 1 



•• li is the very madness of mock prudence to oppose ihc removal 
of n poisoned dish, on account of ihe pleasant Bauces, or nutritious 
viands which would be lost with it." — Coleridge. 

' In our last conversation, -we noticed briefly the com- 
mencement of the African slave-trade. Tiie English and 
other nations in succession followed the example of Portu- 
gal and Spain, and engaged in the horrid traflie. More than 
three centuries, until lately. Borne of die Christian powers 
of Europe have bee d in it; and, lor more than 

:i century and a hah', ii was prosecuted by all Christendom, 
without hesitancy or remorse. The English, the Dutch, the 
French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the Danes, have 
all engaged in the traffic. 

'The French Guinea-Company contracted, in 1702, to 
supply the Spanish West Indies with :5*,000 negroes in ten 
In 171:; a treaty was made between England and 
Spain, for the importation of 144,000 negroes, in thirty 
years. From 1768 to L786, one hundred thousand slaves 
were annually exported from Africa, In 178G England 
employed in the traffic 130 ships. 

me have estimated tin- whole number of slavt • 
1 from Africa sine" the origin of the trade, at more 
than °.0,000,000. Certain it is, that the most potent nations 
of tlh- earth have srrnud to vie with each other in this 

fiendish work.' 

• And yet, I'a. these nations call themselves civilized and 

Christian !' 

' Yes, it is a painful reflection, as it is nn indelible re- 
proach, that for so long a time the intercourse of Christian 



IMPRJESSIOS MADE OK AFRICA, 10f> 

nations with Africa, instead of* imparting the blessings of 
civilization and religion, tended only to destroy the. hap- 
piness of Africa and debase its character.' 

' The Africans surely cannot have conceived a very fa- 
vorable impression respecting either our religion or our hu- 
manity V 

' The treatment -which they have received, it is said, had 
caused them to identify Christianity with perfidy and cruel- 
ty, until recent efforts were made to colonize Africa with 
freemen, and to civilize and christianize that dark continent 
by means of colonization. Mr. Newton, who, you know, 
resided for a time in Africa, and was engaged in the slave- 
trade when the world seemed to be blind to the iniquity of 
the traffic, says, that such has been the influence of the slave- 
trade, in cherishing among the unfortunate Africans the 
vilest passions, enkindling among them intestine wars waged 
for the purpose of obtaining captives, and inciting them to 
betray and kidnap one another, that instead of the influence 
of Europeans being favorable to piety, " the best people in 
Africa are those who have had the least intercourse with 
Europeans !" The Africans, he says, are worse in propor- 
tion to their acquaintance with us ; and often, when charged 
with a crime, they will say, " Do you think I am a white 
man ?" ' 

' I suppose that most of the slaves brought from Africa, 
are captives taken by one tribe from another, in war V 

'Mr. Clarkson, I think, divides the slaves into seven 
classes. The most considerable class consists of kidnapped, 
or stolen Africans. In obtaining these, every species of in- 
justice, treachery and cruelty are resorted to. This class, 
Mr. C. supposes, embraces one half of the whole number 
transported from Africa. The second class consists of those 
whose villages are set on fire and depopulated in the dark- 
ness of night, for the purpose of obtaining a portion of their 
inhabitants. The third class consists of those who have 
been convicted of crimes. The fourth, of prisoners in wars 



110 VIEW OK THE iiLAVE-TKADE. 

that originate from common causes, or in wars made solely 
for the purpose of procuring captives for slaves, The fifth, 

such as are slaws by birth. The sixth ami seventh, such as 
have surrendered their liberty by reason of debt, or by 
other imprudence, which last, however, are comparatively 
few in number. 1 

• \re they taken principally near the coast, or are they 
from the interior?' 

'They are sometimes brought a distance, of a thousand 

miles; marched over land in droves, or caufies as they are 

called, secured from running away, by pieces of wood which 

yoke them together by the neck, two and two, or by other 

! with staples to their arms.' 

'They are then. 1 suppose, carried to the M slave-fao- 
>ld in order to be shipped V 

'Some are carried to what are called slave-factories; 
others immediately to the shore, and conveyed in boats to 
the different ships whose captains have captured or pur- 
chased them. The men are confined on board the ship, two 
and two together, either by the neck, leg, or arm. with fet- 

of iron; and are put into apartments, the men occupy- 
ing the forepart, the women the afterpart, and the children 
the middle. The tops of these apartments are grated for the 
admission of light and for ventilation when the weather is 
suitable for the gates to be uncovered, and are about three 
feet three inches in height, just sufficient space being allot 
ted to each individual to sit in I ire, the whole stow- 

ed away like >o much lumber.' 

'Poor Creatures! 1 said Caroline, 'how wretched thev 

must feel, to find themselves in this situation confined for 
transportation to a land of strangers and to a house of bond- 
age — to scenes of ignominy and perpetual servitude. They 
must indeed feel wretched beyond expression. <> how hard 
is the human h 

'11 is said thai many of them whilst the ship-, are wait- 
r their full lading, and whilst they are mar their na- 



HORRORS OF THE PASSAGE. Ill 

tive shore which they are no more to set foot upon for ever, 
have been so depressed, and overwhelmed with such unsup- 
portable distress, that they have been induced to die by 
their own hands. Others have become deranged and perfect 
maniacs, or have pined away and died with despairing, bro- 
ken hearts.' 

' Horrid ! Are they kept in the confined situation you 
have described, during the whole passage, and allowed no 
exercise nor access to the fresh air 1 ? I shoidd think they 
wouldatf die, Pa?' 

'In the day-time, in fair weather, they are sometimes 
brought on deck. They are then placed in long rows on 
each side of the ship, two and two together. As they are 
brought up from their apartments, a long chain is passed 
through the shackles of each couple, successively, and thus 
the whole row is fastened down to the deck. In this situa- 
tion they receive their food. After their coarse and meagre 
meal, a drum is beaten by one of the sailors, and at its sound 
the negroes are all required to exercise for their health, 
jumping in their chains as high as their fetters will let them ; 
and if any refuse to exercise in this way, they are whipped 
until they comply. This jumping, the slave merchants call 
"dancing''' 1 '' 

'I have read frequent accounts of these cruelties,' said 
Henry; 'and have understood, as I think you also told us, 
that the poor slaves suffer most in what is called " the mid- 
dle passage :" that is, I suppose, the whole time they are on 
board ship after they sail V 

'Yes. It is the whole passage from the time the ship 
weighs anchor until she arrives at her destined port. On 
the passage, the situation of the slave is, indeed, doubly de- 
plorable, especially if the ship have a long passage, and is 
very full. A full-grown person is allowed, in the most com- 
modious slave-ships, but sixteen inches in width, three 1'eet 
three inches in height, and five feet eight inches in length. 
They lie in one crowded ma>s on the bare planks, and by 



112 SACRIFICE 0¥ Mir.. 

the constanl motion of the ship, are often '■haled until their 
bones arc almost bare, and their limbs covered with bruises 
res. The heal is often so great, and the air they 
breathe so poisoned with pestilence by the feverish exhala- 
tions of the suffering multitude, that nature can no longer 
sustain itself It is no uncommon occurrence, to find, on 
each successive morning, some who have died during the 
night, in consequence of their suffering and confined situa- 
tion. A large proportion of those who are shipped, die be- 
fore they have crossed the ocean. Many also die soon after 
completing the voyage, from what is called "the seasoning;" 
that is, in becoming acclimated in the country to which they 
are carried.' 

'I* -Africans! My heart Meeds at their sufferings,' 

said Caroline, whose eyes now suffused with tears; 'their 
no doubt, a "sweet home" t<> them — as much to 
them as <mrs is to us; and, perhaps, they were once as 
happy.' 

'They w ivilized!' interrupted Henry. 

'No,' said .Mr. L. 'the} were nol civilized according to 
our ideas of civilization; but they were a comparatively con- 
'. happy race. It was nol until slave dealers introduc- 
ed among them every thing that could ['lease the fancj and 
awaken the cupidity of uncivilized men, that the extermi- 
nating wars which since have scarcely ceased, were known. 
By the more than brutal cruelty "f white men, quarrels 
were fomented, tribe was set against tribe, and each sup- 
plied with the means of mutual destruction.'* 

* • The author doea net mean here to assert that the slavery of Af- 
ricans is ^t modern invention. Slavery is of very remote antiqnity. 
We find it existing even before the Bood. Moses, when he gave laws 
to the Jews, recognises its existence, and gives lows respecting it. 
There is no donbt > tithi i thai slaverj Las existed in Africa from a 
verj '-.iily period, tin- natives having mode slaves of their brethren 
from the earliest times "l which "<• have any historical :t<-*[iin:n- 
tanco; and from averj carl) period, Africa lias been spoiled and 



CRUELTIES OF THE TIlADE. 113 

' What proportion, Sir, of those who have been torn 
away from their home, are supposed to have died on the 
passage, or before their " seasoning " was over ? There must 
have been an amazing sacrifice of human life in this traffic?' 

' Of 100,000 Africans supposed to have been torn away 
by the hand of violence from their native clime, annually, 
one third are supposed to have died on the passage and been 
consigned to a watery grave. Another third are supposed to 
have died from " the seasoning," or from broken hearts.' 

' So then, Henry,' said Caroline, turning to her brother. 
'dreadful to think! upwards of 60,000 out of the 100,000 
torn away from Africa every year, die almost immediately, 
in consequence of hard usage and the change of climate !' 

'Yes,' continued Mr. L. ' more than 60,000, probably, 
die every year, in a few months after the galling chain of 
slavery is fastened upon them. Not a few of these, as I said 
before, die of broken hearts — not all from changes of climate 
and hard usage. A multitude of the murdered sons of Afri- 
ca, will, another day, appear at the bar of eternal justice, to 
witness against their cruel murderers! From depths of 
ocean alone, a vast army will appear when the sea shall give 
up its dead, crying for vengeance against their inhuman de- 
stroyers ! It would be very easy to harrow up our feelings 
by reference to well authenticated facts which show the 
cruelties attending the trade. If it were not already late, I 
would cite one instance, a sample of the estimate in which 
human life is held by those miserable men who are engaged 
in the trade. As it is, I will defer it until to-morrow.' 

scattered by other nations. " In this situation," says Pai'k, " the 
great number of the negro inhabitants of Africa, have continued 
from the most early period of their history, with this aggravation, 
that their children are born to no other inheritance." At least half 
the population of the entire continent have been in bondage to their 
• own race from time immemorial, as they are now. What he would 
assert is, that this western coast of Africa, of which he is speaking, 
was, as appears by all accounts, in u comparatively happy state bo- 
fore the adventures of the white slaver upon that coast. 



©©FflTOSMTOI! SIS. 



'• Forth sprang the ambush'd ruffians on their prey; 
j caught, they bound, they drove them Far away 
The white man bought them at (he mart of blood. 
In pestilential barks they cross'd the flood ; 
Then were the wretched ones asunder lorn, 
To distanl isles, to separate bondage borne, 
Denied, though sought with tears, the sad relief 
That misery loves — the fellowship of grief." — Montgomery. 

The family were now together, and Caroline, having just 
risen from a short recreation upon the piano, seeing her 
father at leisure, reminded him that al the close of their last 
evening's conversation he had promised to give them in 
the next, facts showing the recklessness of slave-dealers 
in respect to the lives of their unhappy captives. 

'The case to which I designed to refer, as exemplifying 
the estimate in which the lives and happiness of (heir mise- 
rable victims are held, by the still more wretched, because 
guilty beings, who bring the poor Africans from their native 
land, to suffer in chains, and then to toil for strangers, and 
finally to die In bondage, is that of three slave-vessels cap- 
tured rs since i>\ the Dryad frigate. The account 
which appeared In the English papers was as follows: — 

"The Fair Rosam I and the Black Joke, tenders to the 

1 ite I taryad, have captured three slave vessels, which had 
originally lioo slaves on hoard, but of which they succeed- 
ed In taking onlj 806 to Sierra Leone. It appears thai the 
Fair Rosamond had captured a lugger with 160 Africans, 
and shortly after saw the Black Joke in chase of two other 



ITS EXTENT FORMERLY. 115 

luggers. She joined in the chase, but the vessels succeeded 
in getting into the Bonny river, and landed GOO slaves before 
the tenders could take possession of them. They found on 
board only 200, but ascertained that one hundred and eighty 
slaves, manacled together, had been thrown overboard, of 
whom only four loere picked up? ' 

' O, shocking ! a day of retribution surely must come for 
such hard-hearted monsters, such murderous fiends. Why 
is it that the Christian world have ever tolerated such dread- 
ful crimes, such worse than barbarous cruelty 1 It must be 
that Africans have not been regarded as men ; and yet I 
should suppose such cruelties would hardly be practiced to- 
wards mere animals, by humane persons. Are not the cruel- 
ties attending the slave-trade much less now than formerly V 

' It is said they are as great, and probably gi-eater, now 
than they have been at any former period. Obstacles have 
been thrown in the way of the traffic, by the planting of 
colonies on the coast, and the vigilance of our own and of 
the English government has been increased, in order to de- 
tect and capture vessels engaged in the trade ; but the slave 
ships are numerous, and are said to be crowded to excess, 
and the mortality is dreadful. In 1824, 120,000 was ascer- 
tained to be about the number exported from the coast of 
Africa that year, and a list of the names of 218 vessels, be- 
lieved to be engaged in the traffic, was given. In the year 
1827 no less than 125 vessels sailed to Africa for slaves, 
from Cuba alone. Previous to the establishment of the co- 
lony at Liberia, 2,000 slaves were exported annually from 
the single points of Cape Mount and Montserado. Slave 
markets were established all along the coast, and native kings 
were induced to engage in the trade on account of its enor- 
mous profits.' 

' Do you know, Pa,' Henry inquired, ' what is the average 
cost of slaves in Africa, to those who engage in the trade V 

'The prime cost of the miserable victims enslaved on 
the shores of Africa, and sold in Havana for between two 



11G DOMESTIC DISTRESS. 

and four and six hundred dollars each, is, 1 think, to those 
who engage in the traffic on the coasl of Africa, a little more 
than one dollar "a log!" as is expressed in the inhuman jar- 
of the slaver, a log meaning a human body.' 
• My mind,' Caroline here remarked, ' is continually re- 
verting to the awful scenes of the first apprehension of the 
poor African, and of his adieu to hi-; native l 

Mr. J,, though! that ' it would be impos ible for our live- 
portray the feelings of the poor slaves 
at those moments, or to tell the awful amount of that load 
of grief which continues for a long time to weigh down their 
hearts. \\ e may imagine them turning their weeping 
towards their native shores, at their departure, and associate 
with that last Lingering look thoughts that overwhelm the 
mind; we may think of the unutterable desolation of the 
fond father or mother torn from the children of their love; 
the feelings of children forced away from their parents into 
: the pangs of separation between husbands 
and wives qo more to meet this Bide the grave ; but we have 
only a very inadequate idea after all of the bitterness of that 
cuji of WO which they have to drink to the •■ s! It 

is difficult for ns to bring such scenes, and such griefs to our 
own doors and bosoms, and measure the sufferings of others 
by what would be our own, placed in a similar condition, 
We are bo accustomed to think disparagingly of the blacks 
that our sympathy does not expand on this subject as on oc- 
casions where there is actually Less to move our feelings. 
We have acquired a habit of Looking upon Africans as not 
susceptible of Like emotions with ourselves, and when their 
miseries are the theme, there is comparative indifference. 
\\ e associate with the black skin a want of sensibility which 
rvation and facts will by no means justify. 

■• l leecy locka and black complexion 
tool forfeit aature'a claim ; 
Skins may differ, but affection 

Dwells in white and black iliu same." 



AN AFFECTING CASE. 117 

' You recollect, probably, the affecting case of the African 
chief captured and brought in chains to the Rio Pongas for 
sale, a few years ago ? He was brother of Yaradee, the 
king of the Solima nation. His noble figure and daring 
eye, and commanding front, bespoke a mind which knew no 
alternative, save freedom or ruin. He was exhibited for sale 
like a beast, in the market place, still adorned with orna- 
ments of massy gold, as in the days of his glory. The 
tyrant who had seized and bound him, and now offered him 
for sale, demanded an enormous price of the chief or of his 
friends, as the condition of his being released, rather than 
sent in bondage to a far country. The warrior offered large 
sums for his redemption, but his owner refused to listen to 
the proposals. At length, distracted by the very thought of 
his degradation, tears stole from eyes that never wept be- 
fore, and he entreated those around him to cut his hair, 
which had been permitted to grow long and was platted 
with peculiar care, hi which wedges of gold were concealed ; 
and these treasures he laid at the feet of the keeper, to ob- 
tain a ransom. All, however, was in vain. The wretch 
who held him was inexorable. He gave the chief to un- 
derstand that he should take care of the gold, and get as 
much gold for him as he could besides. Dark despair set- 
tled upon the soul of the noble captive, " then burst his 
mighty heart." In a moment, as if from an instant stroke 
from on high, his faculties were shattered. Unable to sus- 
tain himself under the workings of his wounded spirit, he 
became a furious maniac ; and then suddenly withered and 
perished ! He had never trembled in fields of blood and 
death; but he could not endure the thought of servitude 
and chains.' 

' I recollect the story,' said Henry, ' and I recollect some 
lines which appeared soon after the occurrence, entitled 



118 THE AFRICAN CHIEFTAIN. 

THE A.FBIOAN CHIEFTAIN. 

" Aiul must this mighty spirit yield, 
This robust frame give op its hreath, 
Not nobly on 1 1 1 » - bloody field 
\\ here valor sinks in Wrath ? 
But bound with an inglorious chain, 
The scorn of every coward slave ? 
The thought is madness — I disdain 
To die but with the brave. 

Rreak ! break these fetters ! and I'll bring 

A precious treasure to your hand — 

Know, I'm the brother of a king 

Who rules a golden land. 

These massy rings assert my fame, 

I've wealth concealed within my hair — 

More shall be yours, if more you claim, 

But save me from despair ! 

Thus spoke the Chieftain, and tlie tear 
Stole' silent down his manly face; 
Nol death, not death, he cried, I fear — 
I fear but this disgrace ! 

Bold mountains of my native land, 
I'm lost — nor ever more shall see 
Those rugged heights, that daring stand, 
And say we shall be free. 

O give me drink, my hopes are dead. 
In mercy break this cursed chain ; 
Act like the lion, take my head, 
But not prolong my pain. 
Souls of the might) Chiefs, whose bleed 
•. 'd freely on thai dreadful day, 

You saw my deeds, how firm I stood, 

Take, take this Chain away." 

'The incident has been preserved in my mind,' said C. 
' by vine eleganl and pathetic stanzas from the pen of W il- 
liatu t 'ill N-ii Bryant As wo happen u> be in the vein of 
poetry now, and as Mr. I!n:uit's admirable genius for poe- 
tn is acknowledged both in our own country and in Europe, 



THE AFRICAN CHIEF. 119 

I will repeat, in my turn, a few lines, with your permis- 
sion, Paf 

' Certainly : Mr. Bryant's poetry is always good.' 



THE AFRICAN CHIEF. 

" Chain'd in the market-place he stood, 

A man of giant frame, 
Amid the gathering multitude, 

That shrunk to hear his name. 
All stern of look and strong of limb, 

His dark eye on the ground ; 
And silently they gazed on him, 

As on a lion bound. 

Vainly but well the chief had fought, 

He was a captive now, 
Yet pride, that fortune humbles not, 

Was written on his brow ; 
The scars his dark, broad bosom wore, 

Show'd warrior true and brave : 
A prince among his tribe before, 

He could not be a slave. 

Then to his conqueror he spake — 

' My brother is a king ; 
Undo this necklace from my neck, 

And take this bracelet ring, 
And send me where my brother reigns, 

And I will fill thy hands 
With stores of ivory from the plains, 

And gold dust from the sands.' 

' Not for thy ivory or thy gold 

Will I unbind thy chain ; 
That bloody hand shall never hold 

The battle-spear again. 
A price thy nation never gave 

Shall yet be paid for thee ; 
For thou shalt be the Christian's ! slave, 

In land beyond the sea.' 



120 THE AFRICAN CHIEF. 

Then wept the warrior chief, and bade 

To >hred his locks away ; 
And cur by one, each heavy braid 

Before the victor lay. 
Thick wen; the plaited locks, and long, 

And deftly hidden there, 
Shone many a wedge of gold among 

The dark and crisped hair. 

• Look ! least thy greedy eye with gold 

Long kept for sorest need, 
Take it — thou askest sums untold — 

And Bay that I am freed : 
Take it— my wife, the long, long day 

Weeps by the cocoa tree, 
And my young children leave their play, 

And ask in vain for me.' 

' I take thy gold — but I have made 

Thy fetters fast and strong; 
And ween that by the cocoa shade, 

Thy wife shall wait thee long.' 
Strong was the agon; that shook 

The captive'i frame t>> hear, 
And the proud meaning of his look 

Was changed to mortal fear. 

Ilis heart was broken — crazed his brain- 

At once his eye grew wild, 
He Struggled fiercely with his chain, 

WhisperM, and wept, and sniil'd ; 
Yet wore QOt long those fatal bands ; 

And once at shut ot day, 
They drew him forth upon the sand», 

The foul Hyena's prey." 



C©HY®MATOM SIM, 



" I pass with haste by the const of Africa, whence my mind imv* 
with indignation at the abominable traffic in the human species, 
from which a part of our countrymen dare to derive their most in- 
auspicious wealth." — Sir William Jones. 

1 Again we will turn our attention, for a short time, if 
you please, my clear children, to the slave-trade.' 

' Has not public opinion undergone a very great change, 
Pa, in regard to the slave-trade within a few years V inquir- 
ed Caroline. 

' The change has been great, indeed,' said Mr. L. ' Once 
there were hardly a few to be found to make any effort 
whatever for Africa's relief. She was bleeding at every 
pore, but none commiserated her distress. She saw and 
there was none to help — she looked, and there was none to 
drop even the tear of pity over her miseries. Public opi- 
nion has been changing silently but rapidly in Great Britain 
and America for many years. Every passing year the revo- 
lution in sentiment has been more and more apparent. 

4 In 1766, whilst the sensibilities of the public were much 
excited by the fact that 132 living slaves had been thrown 
overboard from a vessel engaged in the trade, David Hart- 
ley, a member of the British Parliament, laid upon the 
table of the House of Commons fetters that had been used 
hi confining the unhappy victims of this traffic on board of 
slave-ships, and moved a Resolution, "That the trade is 
contrary to the laws of God and the rights of man." 

' In 1787 the Constitution of the United States fixed a 
period for the abolition of the trade, which by act of Con- 
gress became a law in 1808, prohibiting the farther intro- 
duction of slaves into the States. 

6 



122 STILL CARRIED ON. 

'In 1787 Wilberforce made his first motion in Parliament 
for tlic abolition of the slave-trade, which motion was renew 
ed annually in Parliament for twenty years, until at length 
it was enacted that, alter March, 1808, no slaves should be 
imported into the British Dominions. 

' On the 2d daj of March, 1807, an act was passed by the 
Congress of the I oited (States, the first section of which 
enacts, "that alter the first day of January, 1808, it shall 
not l)c lawful to import or bring into the United >Sta: 
the territories thereof, from any foreign kingdom, place, "r 
country, any negro, mulatto, or person of color, with intent 
to hold, sell or tlis].os ( . ..f Mich negro, mulatto, or person of 
color, as a slave, or to l>e sold at service or labor." 

'At length the Dutch, the Spanish, the Portuguese and 
the Brazilians made enactments against the traffic. Prance 
also denounced it. and Austria declared that the momenta 
slave touches an Austrian -hip, he is free. At the Coi .. 
of Vienna in 1815, the i there present, and the 

States represented, pledged themselves to the suppression of 
the trade. And on the2dd of March, lsijt), the prosecution 
of the slave-trade ceased to be lawful for the citizens or sub- 
jects of an} Christian power in Europe or America. 

'The universal emancipation of Blaves by the British 
government in their West India colonics, which took effect, 

August 1. 1834, is another most important step in the deve- 

lopement of a right feeling in relation to this subject, and 1 
cannot but hope, notwithstanding ail unfavorable circum- 
stances, that a very few years will have brought to pa-^s all 
that we would claim of freedom, for slaws c\cr\ where, and 

for the continent of Africa.' 

'lint if I haveunderst 1 you, Pa, you have said that the 

slave-trade i^ _\--t carried on exten ivelj !' 

'lam sorn to say that it is, Caroline, notwithstanding 
tin- obligations of laws and treaties, to the contrary . When 
the I oited States, in connexion with England, declared the 
slave-trade to be piraoy, and forbade the further introduction 



STILL CARRIED ON. 123 

of slaves into their possessions, the friends of humanity in- 
dulged the hope that a death-blow was about to be given to 
the traffic. Other nations, by important measures, encou- 
raged the hope. The event, however, has caused great dis- 
appointment, I have before stated some of the slavery sta- 
tistics, showing the state of the trade in 1824 and in 1827. 
From a document which I have seen, it also appears that 
from 1820 to 1831, no less than 322,520 slaves were im- 
ported into the single port of Rio Janeiro alone. By very 
recent documents, it appears that the abominable traffic is 
still carried on to a considerable extent in Brazil. The fact 
that the trade is now generally denounced, and declared ille- 
gal, and although it be declared by every Christian govern- 
ment piratical, will not alone be sufficient to destroy, or even 
materially to lessen the trade* 

* Brazil, Cuba, and other of the West India Islands are deeply 
involved in it. 

The late Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton devoted himself with un- 
wearied industry to the investigation of the extent and enormities 
of the Slave-trade. His labors extended through many years, and 
the results, as published in 1840, sent a thrill of horror throughout 
the Christian World. He proved conclusively, that the victims to 
the Slave-trade in Africa amounted actually to 500,000. 

The following table, extracted from Parliamentary documents, 
presents the average number of Slaves exported from Africa to 
America, and sold chiefly in Brazil and Cuba, with the per cent, 
amount of loss in the periods designated. 





Annual average 




Average casualties 




number exported. 




during the voyage. 


Patee. 




Per ct. 


Amount. 


1810 to 1815 . 


93,000 


14 


13,000 


1815 to 1817 . 


100,000 


25 


20,600 


1817 to 1819 . 


106,000 


25 


26,600 


1819 to 1825 . 


103,000 


25 


25,800 


1825 to 1830 . 


125,000 


25 


31,000 


1830 to 1835 . 


78,500 


25 


19,600 


1835 to 1810 . 


135,800 


25 


33,900 



This enormous increase of the Slave-trade, it must be remem- 
bered, had taken place during the period of vigorous qflbr/'s for it* 



124 8TILL CAKIilKD ON*. 

'Armed vessels may be Bent to cruise o(T the coast, as 
they now do, to capture the slave-ships; but experience 
proves that no squadron will be likely effectually to prevent 
the tnulc, without the aid of settlements of civilized and 
christianized communities along the coast Thousands of 
little rivers, and baj s, thai indenl tin- shores <>t' Africa, either 
• to admit our s-hips into their shallow waters, whilst 
they afford lurking and hilling places for those concerned in 
the traffic and well acquainted with the geography of the 

suppression. England, alone, according to McQueen, bad expended 
for Uiis object, up to 1842, in tbe employment of a naval force on the 
coast of Africa, the sum of $88,888, SSS, and ho estimated the animal 
expenditure at that time at $2,500,000. Hut it has been increased 
tine.- that period t" > i.000,000 a year, making the total expenditure 
of Great Britain, for tin- suppression of the Slave-trade, at the close 
of 18-18, mure than one hundred millions of dollars ! France and the 
United States bave also expended a large amount for this object. 

Tin- disclosures of Mr. Buxton produced a profound sensation 
throughout England, and the conviction was forced upon the public 
mind, and "npon Her Majesty's confidential advisers," that the 
Slave-trade could not be suppressed by physical force. 

The statistics in the Report above quoted, present also the follow- 
ing table : 

Years. Numbers. Loss, per cent, Amouut. 

1810 . . . 64,114 25 lo\0(i8 

is 11 . . . 4:?.o'i? 25 11. -274 

28,100 2.5 7.100 

18-13 . . . 55,062 •-■:. 13,765 

1844 . . • 54,102 25 13,525 

l^i"> . . . 25 9,189 

1846 . . . 76,117 25 19,029 

is 17 . . . 84, 25 21,089 

1 life then We have the melanciiols truth forced upon us, that tbe 

•trade was carried on as active!] in 184? as from 1798tol810; 
while i In- destruction of life during the middle passage has been in- 

d from 1 I per cent, to 25. 
The laws passed againsl it by the different Christian govern- 
incuts, and the measures adopted to enforce their authority, by in- 
creasing the chances of detection, multiplied its horrors, without in 
any degree diminishing tin- evil itself. 



80METHING MORE TO BE DONE. 125 

country, or enable the slaver being pursued, to elude the 
search. If any one factory, mart, or haunt, be broken up, 
word is immediately sent by the traders into the country, 
that slaves must be brought to some less frequented and un- 
suspected part of the coast which is designated, and there 
they are received with impunity, the traders with their ves-' 
sels lying concealed perhaps under the woody banks of un- 
known winding streams. 

' It has been supposed, therefore, that colonies estab- 
lished along the coast are indispensable to the entire extinc- 
tion of the trade. Colonies scattered along the whole coast 
would put an end to the trade effectually and for ever. The 
native chiefs of Sherbro district, through a strong desire to 
be shielded from the ravages of the slave-trade, presented 
one hundred miles of coast, southward of Sierra Leone, to 
the colony ; and all the coast in the vicinity was cleared of 
slave-factories and slave-vessels. Several native chiefs in the 
vicinity of the Liberian colony desired arrangements to be 
entered into with them for the security of that part of the 
coast, and as favorable were the results.' 

' What is there, then, sir, to prevent the formation of 
colonies along the whole coast 1 It would, I suppose, be a 
great work — but is it not worthy of great effort V 

' Many are hoping and praying and laboring for such a 
result, Caroline. I shall have occasion to refer to this sub- 
ject again in a future conversation. It will be consistent 
with the plan which I have proposed for these conversations, 
to turn our attention now again to the evils of slavery as it 
exists in our own country. 

'We have seen how slavery was introduced here, at an 
unfavorable moment, the planters consulting their immediate 
profit and regardless of future consequences, and so falling in 
with the policy of England ; and how slavery was still forced 
on these colonies in spite of remonstrance, the final welfare 
of America being an object of minor importance compared 
with the increase of the commerce of the mother country, 



12G HALT EFFORTS IK VIRGINIA. 

and the immediate supply of the English treasury. In 1 T 7 -^ 
the A embly of Virginia went so far as to set forth, in a re- 
Bpectful {>>tit';.>n to hi .. the King of Great Britain, 

tin- inhumanity of the Blave-trade, and to suggest that it 
might "endanger the very existence of his American do- 
minions." This warning is the more remarkable, inasmuch 
:is it came from the firsl colony the English ever had in 
America, and one alreadj involved in the evils of slavery; 
and it was yet m rkable in the event — for the Ameri- 

can colonies existed :i very little time, after that warning, a 
part of the dominions of the monarch who would not deign 
even an answer to the petitioners. The warning was pro- 
phetic, if we might judge alone from the event.** 

* Tlif eighteenth century opened with events deeply affecting the 
future fortunes of the black race, and strangely connecting Blaves 
with the career <>(' popular government. Tlie once mighty empire 
of Spain had grown weak. The line of her ancient monarchs waa 
drawing to an end, in the person of a feeble and dying sovereign ; 
ami the war of the Bpanish succession lashed the elements el' strife 
into a foam. Louis XIV. wished to place his grandson en the vacant 
throne of Spain ; but England ami Germany resisted his wish, and 
all Europe was thrown into the uproar of a ten years' war. When 
it ended, England obtained, as her share of the spoils, a magnificent 
prize, the monopoly of the Blave-trade. By the treaty < f peace at 
Utrecht, she gained the exclusive privilege el' bringing African 
slaves into the Spanish West Indies, and to Spanish America. For 
thirty years England was the active slave-merchant of the world. 
Her ships exclusively visited the African coaal for slaves; and an 
innm n.-e harvest of profit was reaped from the unholy traffic. The 

: n shores of Africa every win re here u itness tn the activity of 

the traders, and with British manufactures the Christian nation pur- 
chased slaves from tiie black pagan kings en the African coast 

.- shipped t" tic- Wi -t Indies, to the Spanish Main, 
mid to the North American colonies. Their importation into the 

plantations was found a profitable mercantile speculation ; and tin; 
b slave-ships entered with their cargoes into every port of the 
Atlantic, south of .Maine. 

Bui the provinces al an early day dreaded tin- introduction of 

lliey tried at fist to a] the subject, and 

i laws prohibiting their importation ; but .slaves were an article 



EARLY EFFORTS IX VIRGINIA. 127 

* Virginia, I have seen it suggested by one of her orators, 
"prides herself" that she has ever pursued the same course 
in relation to this matter,' said Henry. 

of commerce, anil Britain had undertaken to regulate the trade of 
America. The anti-slavery legislation they attempted, consequently 
came into collision with the legislation of the mother country, and 
was nullified. Repulsed here, they tried remonstrance upon the 
subject; but did English merchants and manufacturers care for a 
colonial remonstrance ? It was opposed to their interests, and was 
not worth the paper on which it was written. 

The colonists were, however, strenuous in their opposition to the 
slave-trade, notwithstanding their legislation had been disregarded, 
and their remonstrances treated with neglect. The I'enns tried to 
abolish slavery, and prevent the introduction of negroes into the pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania ; but the attempt failed. Oglethorpe excluded 
slaves from Georgia, till the British government ordered their intro- 
duction. Virginia persevered in her opposition ; " but," says Mr. 
Madison, " the British government constantly checked the attempts 
of Virginia to put a stop to this infernal traffic." South Carolina, 
like Virginia, tried to close its ports against slave ships; but South 
Carolina had recognized the right of the British government to re. 
gulate colonial commerce, and her resistance to the slave-trade was 
ineffectual. These efforts did not set bounds to the dark current 
which interest caused to flow from the African coast. The entire 
commercial policy of England in reference to this trade may be an- 
nounced in a single sentence, as follows : 

" We cannot allow the colonies to check, or in any degree dis- 
courage a traffic so beneficial to the English nation." 

So said the Earl of Dartmouth, in A. D. 1777, when the American 
jewel was falling from the crown. His earlship felt the passion 
which urged the negro upon our country, and cleared at a bound all 
the hedges and obstructions raised by the people. 

But, besides this commercial motive for forcing the negro upon 
the provinces, there were others powerfully operative in bringing 
about the same result. " Negroes," said the British statesman, 
" negroes cannot become republicans; they will be a power in our 
hands to restrain the unruly colonists." Here was the germ of the 
opposition of the British government to a cessation of the slave- 
trade. Mercantile interest, without doubt, suggested the argument ; 
but the government, by adoption, made the suggestion its rule of 
action, and slave-ships continued to visit every 2iort, from Rhode 
Island to Florida. The colonies were thus kept as an open market 



128 EARLY EFFORTS OF VIRGINIA. 

'"Virginia certainly deserves credit During her colonial 
existence, when it was the determined policy of England to 
Introduce as many slaves as possible into "\ irginia, her 
House u£ Burgesses passed no less than twenty-three acta 

for slaves, both for a commercial and political reason — the commer- 
cial reason was, rich profits; the political reason was, that negroes 
could not "become republicans." These two powerful motives 
kepi the whole sea-coast open to the dave-ships; and itwas not 
until the assembling of the Continental Congress, at the breaking 
oat of the Revolution, that the aggregate opinion of the country waa 
announced in an effective manner. Among the first transactions of 
thai body, was an act which forbade the introduction of slaves. 

The irritation of the provinces in this matter is energetically set 
forth in a clause introduced by Mr. Jefferson into the original draft 
of the Declaration of Independence, ami which reads as fellows : 

'■ lie (the King of Great Britain) has waged cruel war against 
human nature itself, violating its mosl saered right* of life and liber- 
ty, in the persona of a distant people who never offended him, capti- 
vating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to 
incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical 
warfare, the opprobinm of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Chris- 
tian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market 
where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his nega- 
tive for s up p re ssing every legislative attempt to restrain thi 
erable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want 
no fact of distinguished dye, he is exciting those very people to rise 
in arms among us, and purchase that liberty of which he has depriv- 
ed them, by murdering the people upon whom he his obtruded 
tin in ; thus paving off former crimes committed against the liberties 
of one people, by crimes which lie orgea them to commit against the 
if another." 

This clause, for reasons affecting Georgia ami the Carolines, was, 
with seven] others, stricken out of the Declaration, by Congress, 
before that instrument was signed ; but it is a faithful exposition of 
the opinion of the provinces npon this subject. They knew, as well 
• Mien in England, thai negroes could nol here " become re- 
publicans;" and their knowledge of the motive which induced the 

British government to per se vere in bringing slaves into America, 
rendered them the more averse to their importation. 

Toe grievances from tins source co-operated with others to drive 

them finally to nn assertion of their independence. — M'Carlney^ 
Origin and 1'rogrc** of the Unittd S/atc*. 



ENGLAND TO BLAME. 129 

tending to suppress the horrible traffic in slaves ; all which 
acts were negatived by the king ! In the original draft of 
the Declaration of Independence, one of her most gifted sons, 
Mr. Jefferson, inserted a heart-stirring passage, charging the 
conduct of the king in putting his veto on these enactments 
for the suppression of the slave-trade, as a crime, aggravated 
by Lord Dunmore's endeavoring to stir up the slaves in the 
colonies against us. This clause was stricken out finally, 
because it was ascertained that it could not obtain the assent 
of all the States. In 1778, as soon as Virginia found her- 
self in a situation to do it, although in the midst of a civil 
war, she made the African slave-trade punishable by death. 
And it Avas at her instance also that the act of Congress was 
passed, declaring it piracy, subjecting the offender to capture 
and punishment in any court of any nation which should 
pass the same law. So far has Virginia the merit of having 
maintained her claims to " the noble, the humane, and the 
adventurous for the right," Nor does she now fall behind 
any State in the Union in her professed abhorrence of sla- 
very, and in a professed and apparent desire to sec the 
country free from slavery's stain. Virginia, in common with 
the rest of the South, sees, or thinks she sees difficulties in 
the way of immediate and universal emancipation, which we 
in the non-slaveholding States do not, all of us, appreciate ; 
but we can hardly avoid giving her credit for uniformity of 
practice, honesty of purpose, and a true desire to see slavery 
extinct in our land. It was the movement of Virginia in the 
correspondence which she authorized between her Governor, 
(since President Monroe,) and Mr. Jefferson, then President 
of the United States, a copy of which is before me, attested 
by William Wirt, then Clerk of the Virginia House of Dele- 
gates, which led to the formation of the American Coloniza- 
tion Society, and to the founding of civilized and Christian 
colonies in Africa.' 

' Did none of the other States, at an early period, adopt 
measures in relation to this subject?' 

6* 



130 SLAVERY ABOLISHED BY EN'GLAND. 

'Tee, Henry, Virginia was earliest in Betting the exam- 
ple for the exclusion of imported slaves; bul a duty on the 
importation of slaves was laid by New-York, in 1753; by 
-\Ivania. in 1762; and by N< , in 1769. In. 

1780 Pennsylvania passed a law for the gradual abolition 
. which has tin.- merit of being the earliest legisla- 
tive proceeding of the kind in any country. All the S 
north and east of Maryland h imilarlaws. 

At a very early period, the free-holders and inhabitai 

unties of Somerset and Essex, in Now Jersey, pre- 
• ! similar | I • that of Virginia in 1772, to the 

Governor, Council, and Representatives of tie Province, 
'. the slave-trade. The inhabitants of the city and 
county ofPhiladelphia also petitioned their Assembly against 
the slave-trade, citing the example Bet them bythe Province 
of Virginia, in petitioning the king "from a deep sensibility 
of the danger and pernicious consequences which would be 
attendent on a continuation of the iniquitous traffic." 

• < >n the adoption of the Federal Constitution, Congress 
Mas authorized t<> prohibit, at the end of twenty years, the 
importation of slaves into any part of the United Slates; 
which power was exercised at the appointed time, 1 

'No slaves, then, have been legally brought into the 
United States since the year 1S08 '.' said Caroline. -I wish 
Congress had felt authorized to go one step further, and had 
fixed a time for the abolition <'t' slavery in <>nr land. We 
sh.aild not then l>e the reproach of the nations. England 
especially, 1 notice, is severe in her allusions.' 

• England,' Mr. L. remarked, 'has of late appeared dis- 

I to do what she can to retrace the wrongs she fa 
ied in her West India colonies. It were well it' she 
could undo all the evil she has done. It has always been 
for her to make enactments in relation to her 
.■ bul I t'-ar that, placed in precisely the situation in 
which by her reokl< js avarice she has involved us. the poor 
slaves might find as tardy justice at her hands as she i -i; 



DENUNCIATION BY ENGLAND. 131 

upon us. Legislation for the government of others is des- 
patched sooner, and with much less difficulty, than when the 
enactments are to call for sacrifices on our own part. But 
Britain should neither be reproached in this matter, nor 
utter reproaches against others. Reproach uttered by her 
against this country, comes from her, surely, with peculiar 
ill grace. She has done well, I hope it will be found, both 
for Africans and for her West India colonies hi directing 
emancipation. We will commend her for the good done, 
and pray that all her influence may favor the cause of Africa 
for the time to come. Pier example, it may also be hoped, 
will influence us to love and good works. Let her remem- 
ber, however, that it becomes her to be very sparing of re- 
proaches in her allusions to us.' 

Caroline here said she would acknowledge that her 
patriotism tempted her to covet for her country, the honor 
which England enjoys of being first in the work of universal 
emancipation, notwithstanding these reproaches. 

' That is intended as a cutting remark, Caroline,' said H. 
' which we were noticing this morning, from the pen of Mr. 
C. Stewart, who, I believe, is an Englishman : " Shall the 
United States — the free United States, which could not bear 
the bonds of a king, cradle the bondage which a king is abo- 
lishing 1 Shall a Republic be less free than a Monarchy 1 
Shall we, in the vigor and buoyancy of our manhood, be less 
energetic in righteousness, than a kingdom in its age ?" ' 

'There is much point too in those lines of Whitticr,' 
said Caroline: 



" Shall every flap of England's flag 
Proclaim that all around are free, 
From ' farthest Iud' to each blue crag 
That beetles o'er the "Western Sea 
And shall we scoff at Europe's kings, 

When Freedom's lire is dim with us, 
And round our country's altar clings 
The damning shade of Slavery's curse ? 



132 THK FEDERAL OOVERIfMEKT. 

Go — let us ask of Constantino 

To loose his grasp on Poland's throat — 
A.nd beg the lord of Mahmond'a line 

To spare the struggling Suliote. 
Will not the scorching answer come 

From tnrbaned Turk and fiery Russ — 
'Go, loose your fettered slaves at home, 

Then turn and ask the like of us V " 

Mr. L. thought we should take an enlightened view of 
the subject, and not be too much influenced by the sound of 
words, whilst regardless of the real tacts and circumstances 
of the case; but, feeling fatigued, proposed they should now 
defer the conversation until to-morrow: and, said he, as the 
bell rung for the family to assemble at evening prayers, ' We 
will remember Africa, and remember our country too, in 
our devotions.' 



©©iryisiftSJOTDiT xw< 



'■ WV have found that this evil has preyed upon the very vitals of 

the Onion, and baa been prejudicial to all the Btatea in which it has 
axUted." — Jama Mon 

' Well, Caroline and Henry, 1 base another hour for 
Africa— and ifyou please, we will resume the subject of our 

conversation. 1 

Both responded at onoe, 'With pleasure, Pa.' 
'Is it u..t generally supposed, Pa,' Henry inquired,' that 
the United States, as a nation, cannot in good faith interfere 
with the question of slavery in the several States -where 

slavery exists f 



THE CONSTITUTION. 133 

' I believe that it is generally agreed among statesmen,' 
said Mr. L. ' that the time and manner of abolishing slavery 
within the limits of individual States must be left to their 
own voluntary deliberations. The federal government, it is 
conceded, has no control over the subject : it concerns rights 
of property secured by the federal compact, upon which our 
liberties mainly depend. It is a part of the collection of po- 
litical rights, the least invasion of any one of which would, 
of course, impair the tenure by which every other is held. 
An unconstitutional interference would, therefore, be most 
disastrous in its results. 

' When the federal compact was formed, the entire aboli- 
tion of slavery was a favorite object with many ; but they 
knew that this point, or the Union, must be surrendered. 
As much as they loved liberty, and as ardently as they con- 
demned personal slavery, they had no other alternative but 
to leave it as they found it, existing at the South or fail of 
the great desideratum of an union with the States. A com- 
promise was therefore effected. The South conceded that in 
twenty years the slave-trade should be abolished ; and the 
North conceded that the constitution should secure to the 
South a representation in Congress of three-fifths of their 
slave population, and that each State should be bound to 
surrender to the citizens of other States such fugitive slaves 
as should be found within their limits. In addition to which 
it was provided that the United States shall interpose, on re- 
quisition of either of the States, to protect its citizens against 
domestic violence. These principles are fully recognised by 
the constitution, and, as good citizens, we are bound to re- 
spect them so long as they remain a part of the constitution. 

' In the amendments to the constitution, the effect of these 
provisions is confirmed, by the declaration that all powers 
not conceded to the United States, nor prohibited to either of 
the States, by the constitution, remain in the separate states. 
Hence it is inferred, that, as the constitution gives no control 
on this subject, the regulation of domestic slavery, which 



134 THE CONSTITUTION. 

was the exclusive right of the Southern States, before the 
constitution, remains with them, as one of the powers not 
transferred to the I nil I States. The legal construction is, 
therefore, that tl 8 - holding slaves, retain the right of 
exclusive legislation over them, which right the 1 nited States 
cannot touch. The constitution, as it now stands, renders it 
as improper, it is contended, and as unavailing, for the non- 
Blaveholding States to attempt to interfere with the regular 
■ •i'iIi.- Southern States touching their slaws, as it would 
be for us to attempt to regulate the arrangements of the 
British Hon of ( . or the doings of the French 

Chambers. And if the United States cannot, under the con- 
stitution, interfere with the regulations of slavery at the 
South, still less can any single State do so. 

'This is. I believe, a fair state of the case, nearly in the 
guage which ha times employed by 

distinguished civilians on the question of state rights.' 

1 .May not the constitution be amended? 

'It ma\ ; but an amendment in this matter would, doubt 
I result in a separation of the States. We, then, have 
iching the evil we propose to remedy. The 
South will become to us a foreign government, and we shall 
have no means of influencing the Southern states in regard 
to their slave population, more than we now have of influ- 
encing legislation on this subject in the island of Cuba. The 
question, therefore, seems to be, shall we have a union of 
hall we Bhipwreck the whole on the question of 
slavery .' Many suppose that, in this dilemma, we should ex- 
ercise a spirit of forbearance, and do as our patriotic fore- 
fathers did in their determination of the same question. And 
they arc encouraged to assume this position from the well- 
known fact that there is an increasing disposition at the 
.South to be rid of the evil of slavery, and because they hope 
that the time is r when there will be some happy, 

united, harmonious and final movement on this subject 
Many also believe thai a disposition on the part of the 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 135 

North to interfere in this matter, has been the greatest ob- 
stacle in the way of a general movement in the South, and 
most injurious to the slave, whose condition it is the object 
of such interference to improve.' 

'As Congress have control over the District of Columbia, 
I see not why slavery may not be abolished there? 

' The United States, it is true, may enact such laws as 
may seem expedient for the government of the District of 
Columbia. Many regard it as a dark reproach upon our 
nation, that, by the laws of the United States, the slave-trade 
is permitted to be carried on there. It has been said that 
the District of Columbia is " the principal mart of the slave 
trade in the Union," and that the public prisons of the Dis- 
trict are used for the benefit of the slave-traders, " slaves be- 
ing confined in their cells for safe keeping, until the drove 
or cargo of human beings can be completed !" But even 
this reproach, which has been declared on the floor of Con- 
gress, by a distinguished representative from New-York, 
" unchristian, unholy and unjust ; not warranted by the laws 
of God, and contrary to the assertion in our Declaration of 
Independence, that ' all men are created equal,' " others con- 
tend is perpetuated by injudicious movements, which make 
the question of slavery so deeply exciting, that the matter 
cannot at present be discussed with the desired success, and 
with safety to the Union, or benefit to the slave.' 

' But, Pa,' said H. ' we cannot but be interested, deeply 
interested in the subject, although it is a question that affects 
the South, more especially. All admit that slavery is a great 
evil, and must also allow that it afflicts our whole country. 
It is a national blot, inconsistent with our professions, and 
the constant occasion of alienation between different portions 
of our country.' 

'For my part, Henry,' said Mr. L. ' I feci more than 
ever inclined to view all the States as one united whole, and 
hope that, as a whole, they will long be considered in the 
affections of every patriot. 



130 CENSORIOCSNESS TO UK AVOIDED. 

" This is ir.y own, my native land," 

is a sentiment we should all feel, and expresses a feeling 
which I am sure patriots will love to cherish. 1 

'But I really think. Pa,' said Caroline, 'thai the South 

arc quite exorbitant in their claims, it' they require us to bo 

either indifferent to slavery, or silent and inactive when we 

think duty to our country, our southern brethren, or to the 

. calls tur decision and action. 1 

'I certainly think, Caroline, that there is a great degree 
of sensitiveness on this subject at the South, and they may, 
in some instances, seem to require too much : but I also 
think that, situated as they are, they have much to awaken 
their suspicions : and that although they cannot reasonably 
expect us to lie indifferent either to their situation, our 
country's good, or the slave's best interests, and probably do 
not claim this of us, we are bound to support the constitu- 
tion; and to respect the rights which it secures to a portion 
of our fellow-citizens composing a part of the Union notwith- 
standing. It appears to me that we are also bound by the 
spirit of the constitution, as well as by Christian principles, 
and the feelings of humanity, to abstain from all inllamma- 
publications whose direct tendency is to excite insurrec- 
tion, and which are infringements of those rights which the 
constitution acknowledges and guarantees. An opposite 
course may justly be regarded as injurious, not only to the 
whites, but to the slaves, whose condition we desire to im- 
prove. By publications or movements tending to excite in- 
surrection, we drive the holders of slaves to extremities — to 
enactments and to rigorous treatment of the slaves; even, as 
w<- have seen, shutting from them the light of life, and with- 
holding the ordinary means of instruction — that is, if all their 

itments are meant to be strictly enforced. 1 

1 1 suppose that Caroline,' said ! renry, ' refers to an arti- 
cle we were noticing this morning, in a southern paper, 
which asserts, that M the North has nothing to do with this 



THE NORTH NOT WITHOUT SIN. 137 

subject of black population, and all their solicitude about it 
is meddling and officious." ' 

' The evil is ours as well as theirs. The multitude of 
blacks which the severe legislation of the South drives into 
the free States, alone attests that we have a share in the 
evil. The reproaches which are cast upon our national 
honor, tell us that we have something to do with slavery. 
The convulsions which reach the very extremities of our 
land, and often seize upon the very heart of this great re- 
public, and anger our national discussions, and give charac- 
ter to important events and measures, show that we may 
not be indifferent to the slave question. It has been remark- 
ed by a distinguished scholar, that " diseased members affect 
the entire physical system. Soundness is to be restored to 
the limbs, not by excision, which would both destroy them, 
and hazard the entire body; but by a general return of 
health, and a genial circulation to the whole." 

' Another reason why I consider the evil as ours, is that 
the guilt of slavery is ours. We are too ready to appro- 
priate it all to our southern brethren ; but we have no pow- 
er or right thus to wash our hands. From the North have 
gone ships and seamen and traders in human flesh, that have 
been polluted by the inhuman traffic, and the " pieces of sil- 
ver " gained by them have been apportioned at the North. 
In the North were the forges which framed fetters and ma- 
nacles for the limbs of oppressed and unoffending Africans. 
It was the iron of the North that pierced their anguished 
souls : and overgrown fortunes and proud palaces at the 
North still stand, reared from the blood and sufferings of 
unhappy slaves, which tell that the North have shared large- 
ly in the accursed spoils. 

' Besides, there is little room for boasting on our part, 
when it is considered that the different physical features and 
agricultural productions of the South and North have, as we 
have every reason to believe, more than the force or ab- 
sence of proper moral feeling, banished slavery from the 



138 aiteal to new England. 

one, and perpetuated it in the other. Had New-York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, or even New-England produced cot- 
ton, rice, indigo, and sugar, il is not Improbable that slavery 
would have continued in these States and increased its num- 
bers here to this v< ry hour. The saint- may be suppose d, 
withoul uncharitableness, of the new States north of Oliio, 
and east of the Mississippi. 

'There can be d reason, I conceive, why, by fair 

argument, by our best influence, and by our pecuniary re- 
sources, we should not aim t" promote the cause of patriot- 
ism and humanity, in civilizing and converting Africa, and 
in rendering mutual benefits to the oppressed among ns, and 
r beloved country. Nor should this be regarded by 
the South a> unrighteous interference, or unkindnesa Great 
wisdom, however, is to be used in this matter. 

• It was you, Henry, if I recollect, who were repeating, a 
an appeal to the North. Will 
you repeat them now. as they are not an (inappropriate con- 
olusion of this part of our discussion?' 

'They were written by Mrs Sigoumey, and are entitled 
'• an appeal to New England." 

•• When injur'd Airic's captive claim. 

Loads the sad gale with startling moan, 
The frown of deep, indignant bl 
l'.i mis not (.n southern climes alone. 

Her toil, and chain, and scalding tear, 
Oar daily board with luxuries deck, 
Ami t" dark slavery i re 

lathers help'd to bow her neck. 

If clambering in the thoughtful breast, 

< >r justice, or compassion dwell ; 
Call from their conch the hallowed guest, 

The deed to prompt, the prayer to swell: 

Oh, lift tin' hand, and Peace shall hear 
I [er olh e whi re the palm-tree grows, 
And torrid Afrit * d< terts share 

The ii i : Salvation's rose. 



A NATIONAL DEBT. 139 

But if, with Pilate's stoic eye, 

We calmly wash when blood is spilt, 
Or deem a cold, unpitying sigh 

Absolves us from the stain of guilt ; 

Or if, like Jacob's recreant train, 

Who traffic'd in a brother's wo, 
We hear the suppliant plead in vain, 

Or mock his tears that wildly flow ; 

Will not the judgments of the skies. 
Which threw a shield round Joseph sold, 

Be roused by fetter'd Afric's cries, 

And change to dross the oppressor's gold ?" * 



(DOTTOMAf UdDKf XT, 



" If the measure is, as we believe it to be, essentially national ; 
then we are all interested, and should be deeply concerned for its 
success." — Gov. Trimble. 



' I do not see, Pa, why it should he a question to whom 
the duty belongs of helping forward this good cause ; nor 
why every citizen may not esteem it a privilege and an 
honor to do justice to injured Africa; especially when, in 
performing this duty we act a filial part towards our own 
country.' 

' The debt which we owe to Africa, is, indeed, a national 
debt; and we are all interested in its liquidation. If, instead 
of mutual recrimination, South and North, East and West 
could combine their wisdom and benevolence to devise ways 
and means for the ultimate and speedy removal of the evil, 



140 RIGHT OF DISCUSSION. 

and if there could be mutual confidence between the ditTe- 
rent Bcctiona of our countrj in respect to this matter, 1 see 
not why the legislatures of the several States then taking the 
lead, our National Congress mighl nol come up to the work 
and offer that national atonement which every consideration 
of justice and humanity would commend, and which would 
reflect bright honor on the generation that should do the 
deed. For this, if the Smith prepare the way, by her own 
action and example, I am sure the other States will not be 
backward in their duty ; and the debt which as a nation we 
owe to Africa, may be speedily cancelled by us as a nation.' 

'Why, Sir, is it accessary that the South should move 
first in this matter .'" 

'I know no1 that there is any other necessity in the case 
than that of expediency and propriety. It appears to be a 
point universally conceded by statesmen, that the continu- 
ance, or removal of slavery, is solely within the power of 
the domestic legislation of the State in which it exists. It is 
very evident, therefore, that we can accomplish nothing by 
any measures on our part, except as the South appn 
whilst it is equally evident that any measures on our part of 
a coercive nature, or calculated to disturb the domestic ar- 
rangements of the South, would be a violation of our politi- 
cal compact and of good faith.' 

'But, Pa, you do not think that the subject of slavery 
oughl nut to be discussed even publicly if we please; and 
that no arguments should he used by us with our Southern 
brethren to encourage and persuade them to correct views 

and early action in respect to a final and general cinancipa- 

'Certainly I do not Dr. Charming, whatever discrepan- 
cies are found ill his work, has clearly expressed my views 
on this subject: ••slavery ought to be discussed. We ought 
to think, feel, speak, and write aboul it. But whatever we 
do in regard to it, should be done with a deep feeling of re- 
sponsibility, and so d ot to put in jeopardy the peace 



SENTIMENTS Of SOUTHERN MEN. Ml 

of the slave-holding States. On this point public opinion 
has not been, and cannot be too strongly pronounced. * * 
To instigate the slave to insurrection is a crime for which 
no rebuke and no punishment can be too severe. * It is 
not enough to say, that the constitution is violated by any 
action endangering the slave-holding portion of our country. 
A higher law than the constitution forbids this unholy inter- 
ference. Were our National Union dissolved, we ought to 
reprobate, as sternly as Ave now do, the slightest manifesta- 
tion of a disposition to stir up a servile war. Still more, 
were the free and the slave-holding States not only separat- 
ed, but engaged in the fiercest hostilities, the former would 
deserve the abhorrence of the world, and the indignation of 
heaven, were they to resort to insurrection and massacre as 
means of "victory." 

' The right of discussion is sometimes claimed in a sense 
which is for from reasonable ; and there is often in connec- 
tion with this claim a disposition to go beyond the law for 
a rule of action, and to justify that which the law and pub- 
lic opinion condemns. There is indeed an alarming pro- 
pensity among men at the present day, to set all rightful 
authority at defiance, under the dangerous pretence that the 
end justifies the means. Even that liberty of speech which 
is justified by law, it is not always expedient to exercise ; 
and that which is clearly inexpedient, although not condemn- 
ed in civil law, is morally wrong.' 

' But, suppose,' said Henry, ' that I find slavery forbidden 
in holy Scripture, and am impressed with the belief that, 
regardless of consequences, I ought to assist and favor the 
slave, and on all occasions, to resist and lift up my voice 
against the institution?' 

'If we suppose this, we suppose one thing which it may 
be very difficult to prove ; and another which, if reality, 
might be altogether insufficient to convince the world that 
our impressions have any claim to an inspiration from above, 
or that they clothe us with any authority to trample under 



143 HIG11TS CL'AHAKTEED. 

fool the rules of propriety and morality, and the laws of the 
land. It will never do for us to be guided by the vagaries 

of the human intellect < person thinks that there Bhould 

be a community of property; another that the law of mar- 
riage is a monopoly, and that all contracts under that law 
Bhould the will <>!' the parties; another l.elicvcS the 

law which punishes the felon with death involves the whole 
State in guilt, and that capital punishments should be resist- 
ed : suppose that each claims an unrestricted right of discus- 
sion, and becomes the open and fearless advocate for his pe- 
culiar opinion and its legitimate fruits, would such a course 
sln>w proper re r for civil law, or the law of God 

which requires that we render unto Ceesar the things which 
are Csssar's, and unto God the things that are his? The 
Scriptures do not undertake to legislate for the nations in 
•1 to their domestic economy ; uordo £hey,inany case, 
decide the question of property, even though the question 
to an alleged right to the i our fellow-man. 

'l'\u-\ i existing under the Mosaic dispen- 

sation, and also under the Christian ition, and direct 

in respect to the duties of masters and of servants and 
;, without, as 1 can see. in all this, either sanctioning 
slavery as just, or treating it with direct censure. 

• Whal the law of OUT land is. in relation to slavery, you 
well know. A- slavery "has existed, in all time, in the 
fairest regions of the earth, and among the most civilized 
portions of mankind," so it has been organized and sus- 
tained by law. -Our own government, not long since, 
made a «!aim on Great Britain for the value of the property 

Of citiz n> of the United States in some hundred human 
Tin- principle was admitted by the English nation; 
the amount to in- paid was referred to the arbitration of the 
Emperor of Russia ; the claim was allowed, and the money 
received and distributed to the claimants for their lo 

rt\ in sla\es." The principle, is acknowledged and 
ateed by our constitution; and the fact is recognized, 



LAWS TO BE RESPECTED. 143 

and the existence of such property acknowledged as often 
as a runaway slave is taken, on the application of his master, 
in the non-slaveholding States. " Our Supreme Court, re- 
ferring to the period when slavery was recognised here by 
law, has in numerous instances adjudicated important rights 
on the doctrine that where slavery does exist or has existed 
by the law of the land, such law did admit, and must now be 
deemed to admit, the existence of property in human beings," 
Property is thus considered " the creature of municipal law j" 
and, indeed, property of no kind exists without law. The 
laws may be unwise, impolitic, unjust, and cruel; but still 
they have their effect ; and although " arguments may very 
properly be urged to prove that the laws ought to be 
changed," yet no action can be tolerated in society which, 
while the laws stand, goes to make them " imperative and 
void." Good order requires an observance of the laws so 
long as they remain. 

' The mere right of discussion is unquestionable. It is 
well declared to be " one of the elements of public liberty ;" 
and the South require too much, if they demand of us that 
we shall abstain from the free discussion of any subject 
whatever. Still, the legal right, " like all other human 
rights, is to be controlled by a high moral rcsponsibilitv ;" 
and, there are cases where " the. expediency of the exercise 
of such rights may become matter of most grave considera- 
tion." It is very clear that sweeping denunciations, harsh 
aspersions, and threatening invectives, are always calculated 
" to produce obduracy in error and resentment for indignity, 
sustaining a man in his vices even, by motives of supposed 
self-respect." Slavery is now permitted in fifteen States and 
Territories; and the amount of property claimed in the 
slaves in these States and Territories by five millions of free- 
men, is not less than five hundred millions of dollars — 
some estimates say $800,000,000! And the subject calls 
for much consideration and forbearance on our part, lest by 
our injudicious movements we protract the evil which we 



144 DIFFICULTIES OF EMANCIPATION. 

desire to see come to an end. In seeking the accomplish- 
ment of any great object, common pradenoe dictates that we 
take mankind as they are, and not as we should have them. 

' It is an indubitable fact, in my own view, that such may, 
through the force of circumstances, become the state of so- 
ciety,tha< great moral evils may be tolerated when the con- 
viction is clear that acts of prohibition would produce evils 
far more extensive and much more to be deprecated. So 
deranged and disordered, or complicate, by the practice, or 
misfortunes, of a former age, may become the very texture 
of society ; and so peculiar the relations which as a people 
we sustain to eaeh other, that an immediate and entire cor- 
rection of the evil may be impracticable, and that therefore 
neither in.li\ iduals Dor society are bound to attempt it. Sueh 
a state of things, however, can be no excuse for crime, nor 
for that indifference or cupidity that would tolerate the evil 
for ever, or withhold proper effort for its gradual, judicious, 
and effectual removal.' 

'The supposition which I made, was only a supposition, 1 
said Henry ; 'the country has been greatly agita'ted of late 
by the Bubject of slavery. It neither seems to me right to 
interfere with the Southern relations, nor to resort to vio- 
lent to suppress the liberty of speech. 1 

'The acts of illegal violence and shameful outrage which 
have grown "lit of the excitement kindled On this subject, 

in whatever part of the Union, cannot be too strongly de- 
plored, no,- too severely censured,' said Mr. L. 

'Why,' said Caroline, 'did not our fathers, when our in- 
dependence was asserted, and its acknowledgment obtained 
from the other country, make provision in the Constitution] 
for the fmal emancipation of slaves. 1 

'On this subject, GOV. Everett, of Massachusetts, has 
spoken, and I will give you his words: '-It was deemed a 
point of the bighesl public policy, by the non-elaveholding 
States, notwithstanding the existence of slavery in their sister 
States, to enter with them into the present Union, on the 



SOUTH TENACIOCS OF ITS RIGHTS. 145 

basis of the constitutional compact. That no Union could 
have been formed, on any other basis, is a fact of historical 
notoriety ; and it is asserted in terms, by General Hamilton, 
in the reported debates in the New- York Convention for 
adopting the Constitutton. This compact," Gov. E. continues, 
" expressly recognizes the existence of slavery ; and concedes 
to the States where it prevails the most important rights and 
privileges connected with it. Every thing that tends to dis- 
turb the relations created by this compact is at war with its 
spirit ; and whatever, by direct and necessary operation, is 
calculated to excite an insurrection among the slaves, has 
been held, by highly respectable legal authority, an offence 
against the peace of the commonwealth, which may be 
prosecuted as a misdemeanor at common law. Although 
opinions may differ on tins point, it would seem the safer 
course, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, to imi- 
tate the example of our fathers — the Adamses, the Han- 
cocks, and other eminent patriots of the Revolution ; who, 
although fresh from the battles of liberty, and approaching 
the question as essentially an open one, deemed it neverthe^ 
less expedient to enter into a union with our brothers of the 
slave-holding States, on the principles of forbearance and 
toleration on this subject." ' 

' It is not strange, Sir, that the South are unwilling that 
strangers should intermeddle with this part of their domestic 
concerns. Reasons are obvious to my mind now, which did 
not present themselves before.' 

' We all know with what tenacity mankind are wont to 
cling to the possession of whatever is called property. 
Eight hundred millions (for we have to do with fact, not 
theories hi this case) is a vast amount, and in whatever 
light we may regard the justice of the claim to the kind of 
property in question, the relinquishment of it would doubt- 
less be regarded as an enormous sacrifice. It has been cal • 
culated that putting down the estimate at one-half the lowest 
value put upon this species of property at the South, that is, 

7 



14G FOREIGN INTERFERENCE INADMISSIBLE. 

at 250 millions only, instead of 800 millions ; the relinquish- 
ment of this amount by about four millions of freemen, 
would be equivalent to a tax of more than one hundred 
millions of dollars on the six New-England States ; and 
divided, it would be upwards of thirty-six millions of dollars 
f n- the State of Massachusetts alone ; and four and a half 
millions of dollars, would, if the amount were assessed, fall 
upon the city of Boston. If the amount were divided, the 
whole United States, North and South, agreeing to pay the 
amount by a general assessment for the indemnity of the 
slave-holders, which I think would be just, the quota for the 
city of Boston alone would be nearly one million and eight 
hundred thousand dollars : and the State of Massachusetts 
must contribute seventeen millions and a half. Says the 
gentleman of Boston, the author of ' Remarks on Dr. Chan- 
ning's Slavery,' who makes this calculation, " I have all 
reasonable faith in the generosity, the spirit and the noble- 
ness of my fellow-citizens, but if it were asked of them to 
take this immense amount and pour it as a votive gift into 
the ocean, or gather it and burn it on their lofty hills as a 
beacon-fire in honor of freedom and to relieve the southern 
slaves from their bondage, who ventures to believe he would 
live long enough to sec the consummation of so much moral 
glory ? * * * If here then, where there is such an 
abhorrence of slavery, where there is so much high prin- 
ciple, where so many think it morally wrong, there would 
be found some difficulty in obtaining a contribution large 
enough to purchase ease to our own consciences, by relieving, 
the country of this iniquity, what may be expected in the 
slave districts, where there is no such feeling, and of whose 
freemen we ask not to contribute merely, but to take upon 
themselves the whole load — to reduce themselves to want — 
their families to beggary, and their country to ruin?'" 

'Still, /hope,' said ( laroline, ■ that we may live to seethe 
day when our whole country will be ready to engage united- 
ly and harmoniously in this good work.' 



COERCION IMPOSSIBLE. 147 

'I would fain indulge the hope,' said Mr. L. 'notwith- 
standing all that is now most discouraging. We must re- 
member, however, that if slavery is to be brought to an end 
in our land, in a way that shall be honorable and not de- 
structive of our national existence, it must be by the consent 
of the South. A dissolution of the Union and civil war, per- 
haps a servile war also, would be the inevitable consequence 
of any coercion on the part of the non-slaveholding States. 

'To return to the motives which influence the South — I 
was going also to mention an idea prevalent at the South, 
that a portion "of the land is susceptible only of slave cul- 
tivation, and that without this kind of labor their fine fields 
would be desolate." This idea, whether correct or not, is 
doubtless one of the obstacles in the way of abolition. An- 
other difficulty is found in the fact that, for the want of suffi- 
cient incentives in this country to effort and virtue, the 
emancipated slave generally becomes a nuisance and pest to 
society ; and general emancipation without colonization 
would despoil the whites at the South of the land of their 
fathers, and drive them from it ; or in a short time render 
the South one " great prison house " in a far different sense 
from what it is at present, if not a scene of butchery, mas- 
sacre, and blood. But besides these considerations, the 
South has become extremely sensitive of its dignity and 
iealous for its alleged rights; and will not allow the least 
interference in respect to this question. They will not suf- 
fer dictation or instruction, and they will scarcely listen to 
reason or allow discussion. Indeed, the South may be con- 
sidered as having pronounced its decision, that slavery shall 
not be discussed in any shape, within its borders, except as 
subject to restrictions which the South may see fit to im- 
pose. The reason assigned for this is, that they will not 
" by any affectation of liberality, endanger their social sys- 
tem." Claiming to be sovereign and independent States, 
in respect to this part of their domestic economy, they are 
fully resolved to resist all encroachments upon their pre- 



148 THE NORTH MIST PE JI'ST. 

rogative; regarding it aa wrong for one State, or individuals 
in that State t<> interfere with, or in any way interrupt <>r 

endanger the d estic relations of another Btate, as it would 

be for a foreign power to interfere in the domestic concerns 
of our common country. An interference of the latter kind 
would stir our whole country t<> indignation. Even the anti- 
alaverj mission of an individual sent out to this country by 
an association of females in Scotland, was not tolerated; 
the aon-slaveholding States, a* well as the South, were mov- 
ed al once bythe alleged intrusion. With equal disappro- 
bation did we hear the threat of the Irish agitator, and his 
coadjutors in Parliament, "We will turn to America and 
require emancipation." What, should we, believing, as 
many do, that Ireland is in an enslaved condition, form so- 
cieties in our country for the establishment of universal 
liberi; d agents into the British dominions for the 

purpose of aiding in efforts al agitation there: how would 
our philanthropy be regarded, 1 will not say by England, 

but by the nations? The same view is taken by the South 

of any interference in the northern states with their domes- 
tic relations. Nay, they go further, and insist that inas- 
much as '-our constitution was a compromise, in which wo 
agreed that each State should in its own domestic affairs be 
sovereign and independent," so "it is the highest infraction 
of all moral principle to violate the obligations which our 
contract imposes upon us." And with the same view of 
moral duty, there are many at the North who abhor slavery, 
B&d can truly say with I 

" I would cot have b slave to till nay ground," 

who at the same time unhesitatingly endorse the language 
of the Boston Reviewer incognito, to whom I have already 
referred, but all of whose views, in extenso, 1 should be un- 
willing to adopt, "In all codes of morality honesty holds 
the first place, and 1 deem it dishonest, as it is dishonorable, 
to do that by indirect means which I am prohibited from 



THE NORTH MUST BE JUST. 149 

doing openly and avowedly before the world. If insurrec- 
tion breaks out — if war and its atrocities are the conse- 
quence, no drop of the vast torrent of blood that is to flow 
shall be laid to my account. * * I cannot reconcile it; 
to my conscience, while I daily and hourly enjoy the bless-' 
ings of this republican government, to take back any part 
of the price that was paid for it." They consider that the' 
present slaveholders did not originate the system ; and that 
they alone, on whom the accountability rests, must deter- 
mine, in the sight of God, and in obedience to the dictates 
of their own consciences, when, and in what way, the system 
of slavery and all its present evils shall come to an end. 

' The opinion of Daniel Webster, expressed long since 
in a letter to a gentleman in New-York, and published with 
his permission, probably expresses the sentiments of the 
North generally : " In my opinion," says he, " the domestic 
slavery of the Southern states is a subject within the exclu- 
sive control of the States themselves ; and this, I am sure, 
is the opinion of the North. Congress has no authority to 
interfere in the emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment 
of them in any of the States. This was so resolved by the 
House of Representatives, when Congress sat in New-York, 
in 1790, on the report of a committee consisting almost en- 
tirely of Northern members ; and I do not know an instance 
of the expression of a different opinion in either house of 
Congress since. * * The servitude of so great a portion 
of the population of the South is, undoubtedly, regarded at 
the North as a great evil, moral and political. But it is re- 
garded, nevertheless, as an evil, the remedy of which lies 
with the legislatures of the South themselves, to be provided 
and applied according to their own sense of policy and duty." 
It is indeed a melancholy consideration, that domestic slavery 
in the United States is so intimately connected with civil 
society. But we must take the evil as it is ; and seek the 
remedy in that way which is legally and morally right, and 
which will not bring about a greater evil than that which we 
seek to redress. 1 



150 DISUNION AND COLLISION, MADNESS. 

' I wonder, Sir, what effect the discussions which are 
going forward have upon the peace of mind and happiness 
of the southern slaves; I suppose thai some of* them are ac- 
quainted with the agitations of the times?' 

'The effect of movements at the North which go to en- 
r the stability of southern institutions, on the condition 
of both the colored free, and the slaves, is seen in the severi- 
ty of legislative enactments. Mr. Chandler, of the United 
States Gazette well remarked, that one can scarcely read of 
these proceedings, without being reminded of the remark 
(doubtless, ironical remark) of the distinguished but eccentric 
John Randolph, when sonic anti-slavery measure was propos- 
ed in Congress — "1 will hurry home and flog Juba." Tho 
effect is, that as movements are made at the North which arc 
regarded by the South as prejudicial to their interests, they 
proceed at once to "flog Juba" — in other words, pass laws 
and keep up an espionage grievouslj oppressive to the color- 
ed people. The immediate effect upon the mind, and conse- 
quently upon the peace and enjoyment of the slaves, so far 
as they are led to reflect on their condition, is far from con- 
tributing to either. It is impossible that they should be 
indifferent to the subject when it is brought before their 
mind; it is impossible that they should be otherwise than 

uneasy, discontented, unhappy, inclined to revenge. A Vir- 
ginia free black has said, in respeot to the laws of slavery 
and those affecting the condition of the free colored people, 
"these things were never felt or even known by us until 
our northern friends brought their existence before our re- 
membrane . ' 

k lbit. Pa, is it not a fact,' said Henry, 'that, if all in the 
non-elaveholding States were of one mind in reprobating 
-v. and. supposing it proper for them to do so, were 
disposed to insist that the South shall emancipate their 
slaves; the slave-holding Slates arc not so much in the mi- 
nority that it would be possible for the demand to be en- 
forced I 1 do DOt imagine that such a CAN will ever occur; 



VIRGINIA MATRON'S APPEAL. 151 

but a supposition of the kind, and a correct view of the rela- 
tive strength of the parties, it appears to me is calculated to 
dissipate every hope of truly benefitting the slave except as 
we act in concurrence with the views of his master.' 

' The slave-holding districts are the fairest and most im- 
portant portion of our country, if we regard the extent of 
territory, the fertility of the soil, or the increase of popula- 
tion. It is, of course, destined, we should suppose, to extend 
its influence and political power in the government of the 
country. But even now the disparity is not so great between 
the two divisions of our country that a determined collision 
would not be most fearful, and in all probability destructive 
to both. We must never allow ourselves, however, to dwell 
on such a topic. The thought is too painful — the event, we 
will hope, can never be. It were a strange infatuation in- 
deed that should lead to it— a strange patriotism, and be- 
nevolence, and philanthropy, indeed ! 

' We will close the present conversation with a few ex- 
tracts which I will read from an address in the Richmond 
Enquirer, which the editor of that paper says is, what it pur- 
ports to be, the production of " a Matron of Eastern Virgi- 
nia," elicited by discussions at Washington and elsewhere, 
which she regarded as of a " highly intemperate and perni- 
cious character, entirely subversive of the tranquillity and 
happiness of society." The extract will serve to show more 
clearly the views and feelings which prevail at the South. 
" As a daughter of our eastern Virginia, and therefore most 
deeply interested in all that involves her interests and pros- 
perity, permit me to entreat gentlemen no longer to dis- 
card all prudential considerations, but to pause and calmly 
reflect that they are compromising the safety of millions by 
their ill-timed and imprudent discussions. * * Shut your 
eyes no longer, my countrymen — the Union is threatened ; 
and all the blessings it confers, and which our fathers suffer- 
ed and died to attain, must perish with it. Scorn not the 
feeble voice of a woman, when she calls on you to awake to 



152 VIRGINIA MATRONS Al'I'KAL. 

yuur danger, civ it. be for ever too late. We ;uv told that 
tiu- citizens of the North would arouse our slaves to exert 
their physical force against us — but we cannot, we will not 
believe the foul, shocking, unnatural tale. What ! have the 
daughters of the .South inflicted such injuries on their north- 
ern brethren as to render them objects of their deadly, 
exterminating hate > Have helpless age, smiling in. 
virgin purity, no claims on the generous, the high-minded, 
and the brave I Would they introduce the serpents of fear 
and withering anxiety into the Edens of domestic bliss; 
bathe our peaceful hearths with blood, and force us to abhor 
those ties which now unite us as one people, and which wc 
so lately taught our sons to regard as our pride, and the 
very palladium of our prosperity? • • The poor slave 
himself merits not at their hands the mischief and wo which 
his mistaken advocates would heap on his devoted head. 
The northern people are too well acquainted with historical 
facts, to condemn us for evils which we deprecated as warm- 
ly as themselves, but which were ruthlessly imposed on us 
by the power of Great Britain."' Appealing to the North, 

ontinues, " We deprecate slavery as much as you. We 
as ardently desire the liberty of the whole human race; but 
what can we do? The slow hand of time must overcome 
difficulties now insurmountable. An evil, the growth oft 
cannot be remedied in a day. Our virtuous and enlighten- 
ed men will doubtless effect much by caution, exertion, if 
their efforts are not checked by your rash attempts to dio- 

on .1 subject of which it is impossible that you can form 
a correct judgment. Forbear your inflammatory addn 
The} but rivet the fetters of the slaves, and render them ten 
thousand times more galling. You sacrifice his happiness) 

as well as that of his owner, for. by rendering him an object 
of Suspicion and alarm, you deprive him of the regard, con- 
fidence, and 1 may add with the utmost truth, the all. 

of his matter. Sfou render a being now light-hearted and 

joyous, moody and wretched — yes, hopelessly wretched. 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF SLAVES. 153 

You wreak on the innocent and helpless, who, had they the 
will, possess not the power to bid the slave be free from all 
his imagined wrongs. You agonize gentle bosoms, which 
glow with Christian charity towards the whole human race, 
of whatever color they may be. Fearful forebodings min- 
gle with all a mother's deep, imperishable love, as the ma- 
tron bends over the infant that smiles in her face ; and with 
more shuddering horror she trembles as she gazes on the 
daughters whose youthful beauty, goodness, and grace, shed 
the sunshine of joy and hope over the winter of life. I ap- 
peal to you as Christians, as patriots, as men, generous, high- 
minded men, to forbear. By all you hold sacred — by your 
own feelings for the wives of your bosom and the children 
of your love, pause and reflect on the mischief and wo you 
seek to inflict on both the white and colored population of 
the southern States." 



mmmmj&nwvi xvn« 



" A general emancipation of slaves, to be consistent with such a 
regard to their good, and the public good, as humanity and religion 
demand, must plainly be the work of time. It must be accomplish- 
ed by a wise system of moral influence and of prescriptive legisla- 
tion, and must allow opportunity for a preparatory change of the 
habits of a whole community." — President Porter. 

' You have intimated in former conversations,' said Ca- 
roline, ' that there is a disposition among good people at the 
South notwithstanding the power with which their laws 



154 MORAL AND RELIOIOCS INSTRUCTION. 

have invested them, to prevent interference on the part of 
Strangers, still to treat their slaves as rational beings, and to 
give them suitable moral and religious instruction. 1 wish 
this bet were more generally known at the North.' 

4 There is certainly,' said Mr. L. 'a pleasing and com- 
mendable spirit exhibited, after all the precautionary provi- 
sions of legislative acts, by the Christian community at the 
South, in respect to the religious instruction of their slaves. 
1 have before mc a letter from an eminent clergyman of 
Virginia, a part of which I will read, since you may from 
such sources be better able to apprehend the true feeling of 
Christians at the South, and the actual condition of the 
slaves: — "To give you an idea of the feeling of the Chris- 
tian community toward that unfortunate class of people 
which we have among us, I would refer you to the articles 
which appeared in the Religious Telegraph, signed, ' Zinzin- 
dorf,' and which terminated in passing a resolution in the 
Synod of Virginia, recommending every church in the State 
to set apart one of its best qualified members, whose duty 
it shall be to give religious instruction to the colored people. 
And 1 am happy to state, that many inter upon this self- 
denying, though pleasing duty. The proprietor of Monticel- 
lo, (Jelferson's seat,) a gentleman of first rate talents, weal- 
thy, and a man of influence entered into this business with 
all his heart. He enjoyed a very liberal education ; but he 
thought that this was not sufficient to instruct the poor Afri- 
can in the great truths of the gospel. He prepared himself 
with a theological course, to lit him the better for this re- 

sponsible duty. It is a pleasing fact, that the first proprietor 

of Jefferson's scat, after he left it. should lie a man of such 
benevolent and devoted piety. We hope that the public 
mind is fast preparing for a general emancipation, and that 
the Christian community will not be remiss in instructing 
and preparing the colored people for the colony. There- 

deeming spirit is an gsl us, 1 hope, and will not rest till 

• slave shall be restored to the land of their fathers, and 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 155 

this State placed upon a footing with the other happy States 
of our Union, who know not the curses of slavery." 

' I have also before me a letter from Georgia, written by 
a distinguished gentleman to his friend, on the same subject, 
•which reads as follows: "With regard to your inquiries 
about the religious instruction of the negroes of the South, I 
would state, that whilst there is far less interest on this sub- 
ject among slave-holders than there should be, still we have 
much reason to be gi*ateful for what is doing, and for what 
in prospect may be done. My knowledge on this subject is 
confined to Georgia and South Carolina ; you must apply to 
other gentlemen for information about other parts of the 
southern country. I visited Bryan comity, Georgia, for the 
exclusive purpose of seeing what was doing there for the ne- 
groes. On one plantation I found the slaves far more im- 
proved, both as regards their temporal comforts, and their 
religious instruction, than I had expected to see. The num- 
ber of negroes on this plantation is, I believe, about two hun- 
dred. They live in framed houses, raised above the ground 
— spacious and in every way comfortable, and calculated to 
promote health. The negroes were uniformerly clad in a 
very decent and comfortable way. There is a chapel on the 
place where the master meets the adults every night at the 
ringing of the bell. Reading a portion of Scripture, and ex- 
plaining it, singing, and prayer, constitute the regular exer- 
cises of every night in the week. On the Sabbath they have 
different and more protracted exercises. A day-school is 
taught by two young ladies — embracing all the children un- 
der twelve or fifteen years of age. The instruction in this 
and other schools in the county, is oral, of course ; but it 
was gratifying to see how great an amount of knowledge the 
children had acquired in a few months. A Presbyterian 
minister of Philadelphia was with me, and he said, in unqua- 
lified terms, that he had visited no infant schools at the 
North better conducted. This one of winch I speak, is on 
the infant-school system. Schools on the same plan are now 



156 KELIGlOl'S INSTRUCTION. 

established on the several other plantations in the same coun- 
\nd I think I may say there is a very general interest 
on this subject A large portion of the planters either have, 
building churches on their premises, and em- 
ploying chaplains to preach to their slaves. Several I could 
mention who, though they are not pious themselves, have 
done this already, from what they have seen of the benefi- 
cial influence of religious instruction on other plantations. 
Ministers of all denominations begin to awake to their duty 
and responsibility on this subject. Many of them are now 
devoting themselves wholly to this portion of our commu- 
nity ; and it is to be hoped that every Christian master will 
soon be brought to an enlightened sense of duty. And if ire 
are allowed to prosecute this work without indiscreet interfe- 
on the part of our northern brethren, I feel assured that 
we shall see the negroes /or more imjwoved, in a short time, 
than they are at present." 

' Of the religious condition of the slaves in South Caro- 
lina, a clergyman in that Stat*.' writes: M 1 am able from au- 
thentic information to say, that of the jive hundred and 
eighty thousand, which compose the entire population of this 
State, about sixty-seven thousand are members in the Bap 
Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian churches. 
Of these communicants more \\\w\\ forty thousand are slaves. 
The whole slave population is 815,000. It is easily 
the:, fore, that of the white population about one-seventh are 
church members. It is proper these facts should come into 
the estimate of the religious condition and prospects of our 
slaves. In New-England there are twenty thousand, and in 
the free states a hundred and twenty thousand blacks. 1 
should be glad to see a comparison of their religious condi- 
tion with that of our slaves in this one item. Do you 
believe that one-twentieth of them are communicants 1 And 
do you believe that in New-England, as here, there is a 
larger proportion of black than white communicants] And 
what is doing there to improve the moral condition of the 



RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 15) 

blacks 1 The religious denominations which embrace these 
forty thousand black members are engaged earnestly, if 
not to the extent of their ability, to bring the saving 
blessings of the gospel to the souls of all these : heathen 
among ourselves.' And are you not ready to say : — ' Go 
on, my brethren, and may God bless you. "We would 
rejoice to help you if we could : but if we cannot help you, 

We Will LET YOU ALONE.' " 

' At the convention of the diocese of the Episcopal 
Church in South Carolina, as eai-ly as 1834, a committee was 
appointed to take into consideration, and report upon the 
subject of the religious instruction of the blacks, at the next 
convention. This was accordingly done, and the Bishop was 
requested to address a pastoral letter to the diocese, embrac- 
ing so much of the report of the committee as he might deem 
expedient. In compliance with this request, a pastoral letter 
from Bishop Bowen was published, containing much valuable 
and appropriate counsel in relation to the subject, urging at- 
tention to the religious instruction of slaves as an imperative 
duty of every master, and uniting with the committee of the 
convention in recommending measures for its due perform- 
ance. The letter says, the persons by whom the work of 
instruction should be undertaken are, " 1st. The clergy with 
their assistants in Sunday schools. 2. Lay catechists use- 
fully employed in the primitive ages of the church, and now 
rendered absolutely necessary by the small number of clergy. 
3. The proprietors of slaves or their agents or overseers, 
with the assistance of their families. The method recom- 
mended is : — 1. The establishment of Sunday schools, with 
lectures on portions of Scriptures for adults, together with 
classes of candidates for baptism and (he Lord's Supper, to 
be conducted by the minister. 2. The. employment of mis- 
sionaries for the colored population. One of the clergy, the 
committee trusts, is as ' usefully as he is honorably employ- 
ed ' in this way, on the plantations of Messrs. Clarkson, on 
the Wateree, and the hope is expressed that the time is not 



158 COLONIZATION PROMOTES EMANCIPATION. 

far distant ' when the Lord will put it into the hearts of 
many of our younger clergy to devote themselves to this in- 
teresting work.' 8. The proprietors of slaves are urged to 
personal labors for their spiritual improvement ; and each one 
is recommended, in relation to the measures proposed, to 
'ask himself, before God, is not this mij dull/? And then 
let him pursue it, convinced that, however great his dis- 
couragement may be at first, by the blessing of God, great 
good must ultimately result.' In the State of South Carolina 
it is estimated that there are thirty thousand communicants 
belonging to the slave population. ' Our clergy,' says a 
zealous, faithful, and highly respectable clergyman, 'gene- 
rally pay a particular attention to the black congregations. 
Many of them give the entire afternoon of the Sabbath to 
them. Sunday schools among them are almost universally 
organized.' It is also well known that in religious families, 
the instruction of the slaves is an object of general solicitude. 
It is by no means unusual for individual planters, or two or 
more in connexion, to support a chaplain for the exclusive 
benefit of their colored people." 

' I might multiply proofs of a disposition now prevailing 
extensively at the South in all the States to give to the 
slaves religious instruction, and all practicable religious pri- 
vileges. 1 think the general feeling on this subject is greatly 
misapprehended in the non-elaveho^ing States. The evils 
of slavery are great, but they ought not to be magnified 
either by representing the slaves as deprived of all religious 
privileges, <»r their masters as destitute of Christian benevo- 
lence and the feelings of humanity. The South are lament- 
ably deficient in this point after all; hut 1 wish as great at- 
tention were paid to the souls of the poor blacks in every 
free State, as the-, receive in the instances to which we have 
referred at the South.' 

'I have understood, Sir, that an effect of colonization, 
sine,. Liberia is becoming better known as the home of the 
free, is an increasing disposition and desire on the part of 



EVIL OVERRULED FOR GOOD. 159 

slave-holders to emancipate then* slaves, that they may find 
an asylum in that land of freedom. 

' Yes ; within one year more than 2,000 slaves were 
offered the Colonization Society from five different States, 
with the desire expressed on the part of both master and 
slave, for a passage to Liberia. As colonization gains 
ground, the freedom of untold thousands, it is to be hoped, 
will be secured, and Africa gladdened yet more and more 
with the light of civilization and Christianity.' 

' It appears morally certain,' said H. ' that the bondage 
to which Africans have been subjected, by being torn away 
from Africa, and the consequent condition of many of their 
descendants, will be overruled, by a wonder-working Pro- 
vidence, to the christianizing and salvation of not a few. 
There is this fact, at least, to abate the painful sensations 
which the thought of slavery occasions.' 

1 You remind me,' said Mr. L. ' of an anecdote which 
the Rev. Mr. Brown, of St. Petersburg, related, in the 
course of his speech at the anniversary in Boston of the 
Massachusetts Missionary Society. I will endeavour to re- 
peat it, although I cannot give it the interest and effect pro- 
duced by his recital : " Among a number of slaves who had 
been re-captured by a British ship, and sent into Sierra 
Leone, was a little boy named Tom, who had by the slavers 
been separated from his father and mother, and who became 
an object of the particular regard of the missionaries at that 
station. One day, after the hour of instruction had passed, 
the voice of this little boy was overheard in a retired place, 
which one of the missionaries happened to pass. The mis- 
sionary at first thought Tom to be in dispute "with some of 
his companions, but on listening was surprised and over- 
joyed to find him earnestly engaged in prayer. To attempt 
to give the precise language of his broken petition, might 
make it ridiculous ; but the following is the substance of it, 
as related by the missionary, as nearly as can be recollect- 
ed : — ' O God, me glad de wicked man take me ; me glad 



160 eiEnn.v lsone. 

King I ■ I man : me glad mo 

jht here, wh< re <!*.• missionary Learn me to know God, 

and de way to heaven. God, me have one- great favor to 

I more wicked man to take ray 

fader and muder. Me pra) G more King (forge's 

big ship to take de wicked man and bring my fader and 

miller here, so dey may learn de way to heaven, and 

fader, muder, and Tom all go to heaven togeder.' A few 

days afterwards Tom was seen upon the shore, anxiously 

gazing upon the boundless ocean. On being questioned as 

to his object, he said, 'Me see if God hear prayer; me 

pray God send my fader and muder here ; me see if God 

answer Tom's prayer.' Day after day, lull of faith and 

hope, Tom paid a visit to the sea side. Long he waited for 

an answer t" his prayer >'l faith, and his father and mother 

nut. Yet Tom confided in the faithfulness of the God 

the missionary had taught him to know and love, till 

one day, when many months had expired, he came running 

ionary, clapping his hands, and exclaiming hi an 

extacy of joy, 'God answer prayer — Christ hear Tom's 

prayer — de big ship coming to bring my fader and muder; 

O Tom glad God hear his prayer.* A British ship had, 

strange as it may seem, made its appearance, and soon after 

. of slaves re-captured from the 'wicked 

man,' among whom was Tom's father and mother."' 

'God can indeed bring good out- of evil.' said C. 'and 
make the wrath of man to praise him. I have under- 
stood. Pa, that the colony at Sierra Leone, although not so 
favorably situated as that in Liberia, is prosperous ; and 
that the chureh mission at Sierra Leone has been greatly 
•d.' 
Mr. L. replied. ' If I 1 r of obmmuni- 

at the church missions in sierra i 
was bet v. i lantS on public wor- 

ship, 8,000; daj i sholars, l.v I >. The divine favor, in an 
increasing degi • . to be vouchsafed to the missiona* 



CIVILIZING BY COLONIES. 161 

Ties. It was also said in 1836 that the Wesleyans pene- 
trated 300 miles up the Gambia, and established a mission 
in the centre of the Mandingo and Foulah tribes. Number 
of members " in society," about 800.' 

' I believe, Sir,' said Henry, ' that the plan of spreading 
the gospel by the establishment of Christian colonies in 
heathen lands, is beginning to be thought much of? It ap- 
pears to me that the success of the missions to Africa will 
have the effect to recommend it greatly.' 

Said Mr. L. ' the Rev. Mr. Abeel, missionary to China, 
has remarked, " that the opinion is gaining rapid currency, 
especially among foreign missionaries, that colonies, Chris- 
tian colonies, are demanded in the enterprise of evangeliz- 
ing the heathen. Possessed of the proper spirit, their influ- 
ence is incalculable. The power of a righteous and holy 
example, irrespective of all other benefits, would give to 
communities of this kind the relative importance of a sun to 
the dark spots on which their light would fall. They would 
present to the heathen, in an embodied form, the lovely and 
attractive feature of Christianity. They would exemplify 
the practicability of those lessons which the gospel incul- 
cates, and show their incomparable superiority over all their 
own tenets and practices. The arts and customs of civilized 
life could in this manner be most advantageously introduced. 
All the useful trades and occupations among us could be em- 
ployed for the benefit both of the colonist and of those to 
whose best interests they had devoted themselves. Added 
to these, and perhaps superior to them all, would be the 
direct modes of bringing truth in contact with the minds of 
the heathen, which the members of such colonies might 
employ, and which might be multiplied in proportion to the 
number of adult colonist?. Oral teaching — the distribution 
of books — the instruction of the young in seminaries of 
every variety — from the infant school through all the inter- 
mediate departments — to the colleges and even theological 
institutions, would employ all the time of some, and the 



102 EVANGELIZINQ 11V COLONIES. 

leisure hours of others, to the greatest advantage. One or- 
dained missionary could keep a hundred assistants engaged, 
though theil labors wen; the most signally blessed. That 
which engrosses 1 1 1 * * missionary is the simple elementary 
instruction in Christianity, which any layman could perform 
with equal propriety ami effect Formal preaching, and the 
administration of the sacraments requires but one man to 
a station. If the children of such colonists were sanctified 
to the great work in which all around them were employed, 
their sen ices would be incalculable. The language would 
come to them by intuition and in its perfection." ' 

1 1 suppose, Sir,' said II., ' that there is no hope of the 
evangelizing of Africa except by colonization V 

' No,' said Mr. L. ' the situation of Africa is peculiar. 
The necessity of missionary operations through the aid of 
colonies, Mr. Pinney, late Governor of Liberia, who went 
out as a missionary, has well illustrated in the following 
language: M In view of the melancholy state of the African 
race, my mind was directed to the importance of lifting the 
standard of Christianity in the heart of that benighted land, 
and of endeavoring thus to stay the desolating progress of 
Mohammedanism among the countless millions of her chil- 
dren. I went to Africa, and while waiting at the colony, 
such a view was presented to my mind of the obstacles now 
existing to the progress of a missionary in the interior, as 
well as of the great benefit the cause of future missions 
might derive from such a colony on the coast, as a gate of 
entrance, and a place of protection, that 1 became satisfied 
the best and wisest course would be to have our missions 
commenced around the colony, among those of the neigh- 
boring tribes who were friendly to the new comers on their 
continent. 1 am aware that God has all power, that should 
he send men among hungry and ravenous lion-;, as he sent 
Daniel, he can now. as be did then, close their mouths, so 

that they shall not touch his prophets to do them harm. I 

will admit, further, that missionaries might, if possessed of 



EVANGELIZING BY COLONIES. 163 

the dove-like spirit of the gospel, make their way unharmed 
through the most savage tribes; and might live in safety 
among them, yet this is not the case in Africa. The mis- 
sionary among the native tribes may not inaptly be compar- 
ed to a traveller who lies down to sleep beneath a tree with 
a hornet's nest above him. The hornets will not assail him. 
He might sleep there all the year without being annoyed by 
them. But let some mischievous boys pass by and attack 
the nest with stones and clubs, can he sleep in safety then % 
No : the hornets will confound him with their enemies, and 
will set upon him and sting him to death. Just so a mis- 
sionary, or a company of missionaries, going alone among 
the African tribes, might remain there without harm or 
danger. But let the slave-trader come, and the state of 
things will be soon changed. He will poison the minds of 
the natives with suspicion, and in a little while they will be 
persuaded that the missionaries are their worst enemies, and 
as such will destroy them. How was it with Lander ? He 
was received and treated in the most friendly and hospitable 
manner by the tribes in the interior, and so continued to be 
treated wherever he came, until he had approached within 
about twenty or twenty-five miles of the sea coast. There 
he met the influence of the traders ; and he soon found the 
character of the natives entirely changed ; and the cause was 
soon manifest enough, in the presence of an hundred slave 
ships on the coast. Here the same spirit, ever hostile, and 
ever on the watch, will present obstacles to the progress and 
success of the missionary, unless some visible power shall 
be established for his protection. Such a power is to be 
found at the colony, and it will increase and extend its in- 
fluence as the colony shall become more flourishing and 
better known."* 

* The history of missionary efforts in Western Africa shows that 
all attempts, except by colonies, have been unsuccessful. Roman 
Catholic missionaries labored 241 years, and every vestage of their 
influence has been gone for many generations. The Moravians. 



104 AFIUCA CiiKlsl 1AN1ZUD BY COLONIES. 

' Christian colonics,' Mr. L. continued, 'arc of great ad- 
vantage in the work of evangelizing the benighted, under any 
circumstances; especially when they are of the same race 
with those whose benefit is sought. Let me <uiote once 
again from Mr. Pinney. 1 read from his recent address in 
New-York, as reported for the New-York Observer : "The 
colony planted on the shores of Africa is calculated to prove 
a great benefit to the natives of that continent, even should 
they never obtain the blessings of the gospel; but that colony 
is calculated to be the great instrument, in the hand of Divine 

beginning in 1736, toiled for 3-1 years, making five attempts, and 
i il nothing. Uno English attempt at Bulam Island, in 1792, was 
abandoned in 2 years, with the los3 of 100 lives. A mission to the Fou- 
from England, in 1795, returned unsuccessful. The London, 
Edinburgh, and Glasgow Society, commenced 3 stations in 1797, 
which were extinct in 3 years. The Church missionary Society sent 
oat its first missionaries in ISO J, but was four years before they could 

find a place out of the Colony of Sierra Leone where they could com- 
dm nee their labors. They attempted ten stations. But the hostility 
of the natives, who preferred the slave trailers to them, drove tlio 
missionaries from nine of them, and forced them to take refuge in 
Sierra Leone, the only place where they could labor with safety and 
with hope. The tenth .station, at (loin-, was also abandoned. 

But while we mourn over these failures in attempts to do good 
to tropical Africa, it is a Bource of the most profound gratitude to 
have the i I authentically before the world, that every 

attempt at colonizing Africa with colored pertont, ai*l every missionary 
effort connected with the Colonies, either of England or America, liavo 
been successful. 

These tacts prove, conclusively, that while other lands may bo 
approached and blessed by other methods, the only hope for Africa 
appears i" be in Colonization by persona of color. This is the only 
star of promise which kindles its liL-ht oa her dark horizon. It is 

the only apparent means of her salvation. 

After the presentation of such an array of facts, extending over 
a period of four centuriet, may we not claim that the question is de- 
cided — that the facts of the case preclude all possibility of reason- 
able doubt — that the combined effort of Colonization and missions i* 
proved to be an ineffectual meant, and is the only known means of convert- 
ing and civilizing ■■[/'■ 



AFRICA CHRISTIANIZED BY COLONIES. 165 

Providence, in opening the way for the introduction of the 
gospel into that continent; and as such I uphold it. I do 
think that, in addition to all the incidental good it has effected, 
it will be the chief means of commencing and sustaining the 
work of African missions. Our great object, beyond and 
over and above all incidental and lesser good, is to convert 
the population of the African continent. We seek to strike 
the manacles off from the millions of her slaves, and I believe 
this colony is the means ordained of God to do it. The 
great difficulty, thus far, in the. progress of Christian mis- 
sions, has been to adapt the men to the work. You may 
take the ablest student from your theological seminary, and 
there let him spend two years in acquiring something of the 
language of the country ; and when you have done, he is 
still a stranger and a foreigner. He cannot feel with the 
native inhabitants. He is not one of them : and nothing 
can make him like them. But, if it were otherwise, there 
is another difficulty in the way ; you cannot get enough 
men for the work. In Bombay the missionaries labored 
for twenty years and scarce any conversions were effected ; 
and why ] the missionaries not being sufficiently numerous, 
had to employ Jews and Mohammedans as teachers in their 
schools. These men taught, indeed, the lessons they were 
employed to teach ; but they taught the children, at the 
same time, that all they learned was nothing but lies. But 
in Africa we shall soon be freed from both these difficulties. 
Let the work of colonization go on, and be blessed of heaven 
to prosper as it has done thus far, and in the course of 
twenty years we shall have there 50,000 pious men from 
the United States. With an ordinary blessing, we shall bo 
able soon to send forth ten thousand Christian missionaries, 
who will go to 10,000 African villages, which will be pre- 
pared, willing, and anxious to receive them. Noble, glorious 
prospect ! We have the material to form the workmen, 
and we have people apt, and easy, comparatively, to be 
worked upon. In most other heathen countries the mis- 



ICG ATRICA CHRISTIANIZED BY COLONIES. 

sionary has to meet and to encounter not only the oppo- 
sition of the carnal heart, but ancient institutions fortified 
by laws and depraved custom, and guarded on every side 
by an interested, depraved and artful priesthood. In China 
he meets with iron bars across his way, with all the strength 
of the government openly against him. In Hindostan he 
meets all the force of caste, and all the mighty influence of 
an ancient prescriptive idolatry, which is identified with all 
the habits of life. But in Africa it is not so. The mis- 
sionary must, indeed, meet the carnal heart : but that is all 
he has to meet. The African people have no idolatry to 
be given up. They acknowledge one God, though they do 
not know who or what or where he is ; and they do not 
worship him save as a principle of evil which it is their 
interest to propitiate. With this view they make an occa- 
sional offering, and purchase various charms and amulets as 
preservatives against evil. But they never think of such a 
thing as worshipping an idol. This very destitution of all 
system of religion pre-occupying their mind, opens, at 
once, a wide door for missionary effort. And the colony is 
the very source from which we may expect a supply of 
missionaries. It is calculated to exert a mighty influence 
for good." ' 



CTWlEIBiMTOXJ XVMI. 



" 'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower 
Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume ; 
And wc are weeds without it. All constraint, 
Except what wisdom lays on evil men, 
Is evil; hurts the faculties ; impedes 
Their progress in the road of science ; blinds 
The eye-sight of discovery : and begets 
In those who suffer it, a sordid mind, 
Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit 
To be the tenant of man's noble form." — Comper. 

1 After all, Pa, it appears to me,' said Henry, ' that it 
is more than freedom that is necessary to raise the African 
in the scale of being, and make him respected and happy. 
How many negroes there are in this country that are free 
and yet are quite as degraded as the slaves ! Emancipation, 
it seems to me, is but a small part of the duty to which 
humanity call us.' 

' Yes, Pa,' said Caroline, ' I have thought that the blacks, 
even at the North, are generally very degraded and misera- 
ble ; and I have been told that the free blacks at the South 
are more grovelling and abandoned in their morals than 
the slaves.' 

' It is true, my children, that whilst there are in the 
United States 500,000 persons of African origin who have 
the name of being free, they are generally wretched. But 
we should remember that it is because invincible prejudice 
is continually pressing them down, and paralyzing all the 
energies of their nature. There are circumstances which 
seem to check and utterly forbid, in most cases, every 
rising emotion of ambition. They have, in truth, neither 
home, country, or motive to effort. Let the white man bo 



108 l-TEDOM ALONE WILL NOT ELEVATE. 

similarly situated, generation after generation growing up 
in ignorance and disgrace ; and see if, in the lapse of time, 
be and his descendants are not wretched, their thoughts 
grovelling, and morals abandoned. 1 

' Why, as to that,' said H. ' I do not think the blacks 
are more degraded than many whites. I have heard it re- 
marked, that at the South even the slaves consider it a 
degradation to associate with the lowest class of whites. 1 

' It has been said that, at the South, there are three 
great classes — the respectable whites, the negroes, and the 
ignorant, or vicious and degraded whites; the last being 
lowest in the scale of respectability and moral worth. At 
the South, the line of demarcation is more clearly drawn 
between the respectable and the degraded, than in the 
northern States. The white man who, at the South, cannot 
find a comfortable support, and maintain a respectable 
standing in society, is generally obnoxious to the suspieion 
of other causes of poverty and degradation than misfortune; 
whilst there is for greater equality than with us, among the 
respectable portion of tin- community. 

'To return to your remark about the unhappy condition 
of the free : blacks. We admit that it is correct ; but let me 
ask if it is not strange that the blacks are not even more de- 
graded than they are. I do not think that either free or 
will suffer in comparison with the whites, allowing for 
all the circumstances which have led to the present con 
dition of the blacks. The free, however, it must be con- 
fessed, are generally more sunken to a level with the brute 
than the slave. Th •;. are. as h whole, exceeding corrupt 

depraved, and abandoned. There arc many honorable ex 

Ceptions among them, and it is often a pleasure which 1 
enjoyof bearing testimony to these exceptions; but the 
vicious and degraded habits and propensities of this class 
arc known to every man of attentive observation. 

'•The characters of men for active industry, enterprise, 
and external morality, to pay the least, always depend, more 



OPPORTUNITY FOR DISTINCTION. 169 

than is generally supposed, upon the circumstances in which 
they are placed. Among the causes which, probably, ope- 
rate most powerfully on the character, is early encourage- 
ment. The child who is taught to expect and attempt great 
things, is most likely to imbibe a generous spirit of enter- 
prise. It is the encouragement, the hope of attaining to 
some degree of excellence or measure of prosperity, which 
is wont to develope genius and make the man. But what 
hopes are before the minds of the children of our colored 
population, as motives to aim at an elevated standing in 
society ] What honorable employment to which the genius 
might happen to be suited, can be promised ? To what 
circle of friendship and respectability whose cultivated 
minds and purity of morals may operate as a stimulus, can 
the children of a colored skin be introduced ? Can the 
parents of those children, affording powerful motives in 
their own success and example, point to the successful mer- 
chant, the distinguished statesman, the eminent scholar, or 
physician, or divine, and say, you have the prospect of 
rising, with equal industry and merit, to a level with those ? 
Alas ! they must, at best, be hewers of wood and drawers 
of water. The bar, the pulpit, the legislative hall, the 
circles of refinement, and respectability, and honor, are shut 
to them, by that which is irresistable — the force of public 
sentiment. They are denied, by invincible prejudice, the 
advantages of other freemen, and no talents however great, 
no piety however pure and devoted, no patriotism however 
ardent, can lift them above this cruel fate. They hear the 
accents, they behold the triumphs, of liberty; but they 
cannot enjoy it as do we. In all the walks of life, in every- 
society, on every path which lies before others to honor and- 
fame and glory, a moral incubus pursues and fastens upon 
them. A great man among ourselves, has said, " Their con-, 
dition is worse than that of the fabled Tantalus, who never 
could grasp the fruits and water which seemed within hfe 
reach. And when they die, 

8 



170 A COMPLICATE QUESTION. 

• Memory o'er their toml) no trophies raises.'" 

'Their degradation is the natural consequence of their 
unfortunate situation, and not the result of any inherent de- 
pravity in their natural constitution, or of deficiency of men- 
tal faculties. They are as capable, 1 verily believe, (and I 
hope that by observation and by reading, if not by our con- 
versation, this conviction will be fastened on your mind,) of 
the finest sensibilities as we are; as capable of appreciating 
and enjoying the endearing relations and blessings of life ; 
as capable of self-government, and eminent attainments in 
knowledge, usefulness, piety, and respectability. But do 
what they will, there is here, comparatively, only one pros- 
pect before them. This is true in respect to the/n < 
and it cannot be supposed to he otherwise in respect to the 
alave.' 

'It seems to me that we can hardly hope, under such cir- 
cumstances, that they will ever be, in tins country, what 
they should desire to be, and aspire after. And this is the 
! ippose, why so many who appear to feel for their 
unhap ition, are in favor of their colonizing in 

Africa?' 

' It is for this reason, and also for others in connexion — 
the benefits that will result to Africa from such an. 

. and tin' best interests of our own country — that Afri- 
can colonization is warmly advocated by many. The i 

is thoughl tO have powerful claims to 1 warmest 

wishes, and untiring v aether we consult the besl in- 

terests of the free blacks, the slaves, the whil many 

millions scattered over the dark contin 

' 1 do not see why they should d< are, under ■ u< h cii 
stances, to remain, or why any should oppose th< ir 1 
on a more L r ,.;ii a ] BO il. \Yhv should they not wish to 
the country of their forefatb I 

' i qjjq b ( ( " this sub- 

■ not any subjecl ; but 1 acknowledge that 
Colonization has claims to m\ high regard and besl d 



PREJUDICE GREAT. 171 

for its success and prosperity. There is much need, doubt- 
less, of that wisdom which God imparts to them that seek it, 
to direct in this matter, for great interests are involved, and 
the question is exceeding complicate in its bearings. There 
is need also of a spirit of meekness, and kindness, and for- 
bearance, in its discussion.' 

' You feel confident then, Pa, that the blacks, if coloniz- 
ed, will do well in their fathers' native land V 

1 1 can have no reasonable doubt on this subject. Place 
them where they may call the land their own, where, to use 
the language of a distinguished and eloquent statesman of 
another country, " they will stand redeemed, regenerated, 
and disenthralled by the mighty genius of universal emanci- 
pation," and they will commence a new life. Many who 
were fully sensible to the humiliation of their condition here, 
are at this moment worthy and independent citizens in the 
country of their forefathers. It seems cruel that remaining 
in this country, they are destined to be for ever proscribed 
and debased by our prejudices ; and yet, for all that we can 
foresee, such must be the consequence unless public senti- 
ment undergoes an entire change. Whilst at the South the 
African is held in physical bondage ; in all our country, pre- 
judice consigns him to a moral debasement, by which he 
cannot but feel that he is deeply injured. The prejudice 
against the color of the African which appears to exist in the 
breasts of the whites in this country generally, is such as 
nothing short of divine power can remove. How far this 
difference between ourselves and the blacks should influence 
our intercourse with them in political life or in respect to 
the sociabilities of the friendly circle, I shall not here assert. 
I have my own views on this subject. 

' Some great and good men,' said Mr. L. ' have gone to 
wide extremes on this question. In the view of some, a co- 
lored skin attaches an ignominy which I cannot but feel is 
unjust ; others are sevei-c in their reproaches, I may almost 
say, anathemas, against those who indulge in any hesitancy 



172 LESS PREJUDICE IK OTHER COUNTRIES. 

touching the fullest expression of equality and unrestricted 
intercourse. Perhaps, were I to express them, they would 
suit neither extreme ; and, it is even possible that I might 
be charged by some, with cherishing unjustifiable and wick- 
ed prejudices. It is a painful subject. If we refer to the 
Scriptures, a diversity of sentiment remains even among 
good people, for they differ in their interpretations and con- 
structions of duty.' 

' I knoio? said C. ' that I have what arc called prejudices, 
and still I think I am sincerely disposed to befriend the 
cause of the oppressed negro. Some views have been im- 
puted to some friends of Africans, at which my mind recoils 
—and this I suppose is what is denominated prejudice. Dr. 
Philip, the able and distinguished missionary in South Afri- 
ca, of the London Missionary Society, in a letter to a be- 
nevolent association of students at the Princeton Theological 
Seminary, says, '• It gives us a frightful view of human na- 
ture, that the injuries we have done to that race of men, 
should be the ground of our hatred against them; and that 
that hatred should be evident in proportion to the cruelty 
and injustice they have suffered at our hands." * * * 
"As our children, it is hoped," he continues. •■ will be more 
innocent of the crimes committed against Africa, than we 
are, so we hope they will cherish towards Africa a more 
kindly feeling than we. There was no prejudice against co- 
lor when Egypl was the cradle of literature and science, nor 
in the da\ a when tin- < frecian and Roman Republics were in 
their glory; and these prejudices will, most certainly, pass 
away, as the principles of the gospel prevail/" 

' 1 believe the same prejudice dors not exist, in the same 
degree, in other countries, does it. Pal' 

■ I: is a singular fact that we republicans are, in this mat- 
ter, far more exclusive in our feelings than our monarchical 
neighbors. In England, it is common to see respectable and 
genteel people, open their pews when a black stranger enters 
the church; and. at hotels, nobody thinks it a degradation 



LESS PREJUDICE IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 173 

to have a colored traveller sit at the same table. I have 
heard a well-authenticated anecdote, which illustrates the 
different state of feeling in the two countries on this subject. 
"A wealthy American citizen was residing in London for a. 
season, at the time the famous Prince Saunders was there.*. 
The London breakfast hour is very late ; and Mr. Saunders 
happened to call on the American while his family were 
taking their morning repast. Politeness and native good 
feelings prompted the good lady to ask their guest to take a 
cup of coffee ; but then, the prejudices of society — how could 
she get over them 1 True, he was a gentleman in character, 
manners, and dress — but he had a black skin, and how could 
she sit at the same table with him ! His skin being black, 
it was altogether out of the question, although it is possible 
a black character is not always so great a difficulty in the 
way of asking a man to eat with one ! So the lacly sipped 
her coffee, and Prince Saunders sat at the window, occasion- 
ally speaking in reply to the conversation addressed to him. 
At last, all others having retired from the breakfast table, 
the lady, with an affected air of sudden recollection, said, ' I 
forgot to ask if you had breakfasted, Mr. Saunders ; won't 
you allow me to give you a cup of coffee V ' I thank you, 
Madam,' was the reply, with a dignified bow, ' / am engaged 
to breakfast with the Prince Regent this morning? " ' 

* Saunders received a liberal education in New England, and 
kept a school for some time in Boston. From thence he went to St. 
Domingo professedly to promote the cause of education in that isl- 
and. He afterwards made his voyage to England to further the 
same object, and was received by the friends of African improve- 
ment with the most flattering courtesy. In a speech before the ma- 
nagers of the British and Foreign Bible Society, he gave an inter- 
esting account of St. Domingo, and his speech was much applauded; 
he is said to have spoken with much propriety of language and good 
sense. — Griffin's Pica for Africa. 



(DDF^lBilau^On XmiL 



'• It is not easy t « » discern any object to which ihe pecuniary re- 
sources of the Union can be applied, of greater importance to the 
national Becurily and welfare, than to provide for the removal, in a. 
manner consistent with the rights and intei esta of the set i ral v 
of the free colored population within their limits." — Gat. Mercer. 

' In our last conversation we noticed the general degra- 
dation of blacks in this country. The circumstances that 
(here are bo few blacks that, with their freedom, avoid 
poverty and vice, nohly resisting the natural tendency of 
their condition, has led some to suppose that however unde- 
sirable in itself slavery may be, the blacks generally gain 
little, and in most instances, are greal losi rs, by emancipa- 
tion! It has been asserted that, of tree blacks collected in 
our cities and large towns, a great |'<>rli<>n are found in 
- of wretchedness and vice, and become tenants of 
poor-houses and prisons. As a proof of the tendency of 
their condition, the following striking tacts among others, 
found in the First Annual Report <>i' the Prison Discipline 
Societj may be mentioned: in Massachusetts, where the 
I population is small, being less than 7.000 souls, 
(onlj .', part of the whole copulation.) about o I' :irt °f 
the whole number of convicts in the state prison are 
blacks. 1: ■ ticut, ,', pari of the population i^ eo. 

lored, and ', pari of the convicts. In New-York, y part 
are blacks; ' part of the convicts in the city' state prison 
are blacks. In Ne^ Jersey, the proportion i- ,' : colored; 
and of the convicts f In Pennsylvania,^, part of a popu- 
lation of more than a million souls, is colored : and more 
than I part of the convicts are black. We might pursue 
these illustrations of the degradation of the free blacks 



PROPORTION OF CRIME. 175 

in the non-slaveholding States, but it is unnecessary. Suf- 
fice it to say, it appears from these statements, that about 
one quarter part of all the expense incurred by these 
States for the support of their institutions for criminals is 
for colored convicts. The bill of expense in three of these 
states for the support of colored convicts for the speci- 
fied number of years preceding the report from which 
this schedule is made, was in Massachusetts, 10 years, $17,- 
734 ; Connecticut, 15 years, 837,160 ; and New- York, in 
one prison, 27 years, $109,100, making in all, 8104,000. 
And this sum was expended, in an average of less than 
eighteen years, on convicts from among a population of only 
54,000 colored persons. References to the expenses for the 
maintenance of paupers, in the non-slaveholding states, would 
give a similar result. 

'Another consideration, and one of great weight with our 
Southern brethren, in leading them to deprecate the exis- 
tence and increase of colored population in their midst, is 
the contaminating influence which this class spread among 
the poor and degraded about them. Prostrate and wretch- 
ed themselves, through the peculiarity of their almost hope- 
less circumstances, they are a source of enxy and restless 
anxiety to the slave, who, seeing them free from domestic res- 
traint, and witnessing the facilities with which they are ena- 
bled to indulge their various propensities, is tempted, and cor- 
rupted, and often ruined by the contagious influence. Hence 
some of the severest provisions of the law, and the most cru- 
el restraints to which slavery is subjected — and hence, too, 
the early discouragement, and, of late years, the absolute 
prohibition of emancipation except under severe restrictions. 

' I recollect,' said C. ' having being very much shocked 
some time since at the remark of Gen. IT. that " it would 
have been better for the free blacks had they been kept in 
bondage, where the opportunity and the inducements to vice 
would not have been so great." I did not at the time ap- 
preciate the remark.' 



176 THE SLAVE MORI MURAL THAN THE FREE. 

'Such, my daughter, is the opinion of many, who I am 
Bare arc no advocates for slavery, and who have made sacri- 
fices t'> their good feelings towards the African, both slave 
and free. "1 am clear," says a distinguished Virginian, 
who feels a deep interest in the welfare of our colored popu- 
lation, " that whether we consider it with reference to the 
welfare of the state, or the happiness of the blacks, it were 
better to leave them in chains, than to liberate them to re- 
ceive such freedom as they enjoy." ' 

' The condition of slaves themselves, I suppose, would 
be much ameliorated by the removal of those that are freed, 
and I should suppose that no one can doubt that our free 
black population may find themselves much more favorably 
located in a community by themselves. 1 

' There can be no doubt that colonization has a tendency 
to ameliorate the condition of the slave ; and that it is well 
calculated to hasten the time when all shall go tree who are 
now oppressed. It has long been a source of regret among 
many discernimg, well-informed, and Christian people, to 
my own knowledge, that they cannot free their slaves with- 
out adding to their wretchedness, and throwing, as it were, 
loose on the community, so man\ materials to be manufac- 
tured into every form of indolence, degradation and vice.' 

'I suppose,' said Henry, 'that if the immediate emanci- 
pation Of the whole slave population were to be effected, 
the situation of the whites at the Smith would be very far 
from enviable V 

' It is thought by the South, and by many at the North,' 
said Mr. I>. 'that immediate emancipation would render it 
necessary for the whites to exterminate the blacks, or aban- 
don the Southern soil. The late abolition of slavery in the 
West India colonies is pleaded as a refutation of this idea; 

but those who are best qualified to judge, assert that the 

emancipation of slaves upon the West India estates, is a very 

different thing from the immediate emancipation oftwo mil- 
lions of slaves in the southern country; and that, without 



COLONIZATION AMELIORATES THEIR CONDITION. 177 

raising the question of the ultimate effect upon the whites in 
the West Indies, the banishment of the blacks, or the ex- 
patriation or annihilation of the whites from the South would 
be the necessary consequence of immediate and universal 
emancipation here. 

'The duty of immediate emancipation,' said Caroline, 
' would be very plain, I suppose, if the continuance of the 
system is wrong under any circumstances. The aboli- 
tionists, I believe, view slavery in all cases, as a sin — a 
" malum in se," I think they express it ; and they suppose 
it is hardly proper, and somewhat inconsistent, to advise 
leaving off sin gradually, as convenience dictates.' 

' The Rev. Dr. Fisk, President of the Methodist Univer- 
sity in Middletown,' said Mr. L. ' once illustrated the conse- 
quence of carrying out the views of our abolitionist brethren, 
by the following anecdote : " The eccentric Lorenzo Dow, 
had by building a milldam across a stream flooded his neigh- 
bor's grounds above the dam. They commenced a suit 
against him, and obtained a verdict in their favor, on the prin- 
ciple that he was invading their rights. This verdict convinc- 
ed Lorenzo that every moment he kept the water in its pre- 
sent position he was guilty of a legal sin : and on the ground 
that every man should quit sinning immediately, he at once 
became a convert to the doctrine of immediate abolition. 
He accordingly went to work and forthwith abolished (or 
demolished) his milldam. The immediate consequence of 
letting oft* so large a quantity of water at once, was the de- 
luging of the country below, and a great destruction of pro- 
perty. And Lorenzo was taught by a second prosecution and 
assessment of damages, that his immediate abolition had led 
him into a greater sin than he was guilty of before.' 

' We have already noticed,' Mr. L. continued, ' the con- 
dition of the free black population in several of the most 
highly favored States in the Union. Let me advert to a few 
otlier facts : In the State of Virginia the free colored people 
are not less than 38,000 ; and yet of this number, not 200 
8* 



1*8 A.V UNWELCOME POPULATION. 

are proprietors of land ! Again, look at their unwelcome 
reception w berever they go, among tb • whil aider 

the fact that their presenc • is regarded as an evil wherever 
they are. To some States they are prevented from going, 
by enactments which es sm to a forfeiture of their 

freedom if they should dare to set foot upon the soil. Lou- 
isiana. Borne time since, required all free persons of color, 
who had removed t<> the Statu since the year L825, to leave 
it. Thousands who had taken refuge in Ohio, driven out 
from that State, nought a home in Canada: but the result is 
that the Canadians, in their turn, threaten their expulsion. 
Thej are laid under restrictions, which cannot bul be < ■••. 
ing painful, in most of the States both North and South; 
and in none do they enjoy any thing much better than a 
mere nominal freedom. Various expedients are resorted 
to by t!i" State Legislatures to free themselves from a free 
colored population, by disabilities and other embarrass' 
orients. Every State seems to cherish a disposition to be 
free from a free black population.* The South casts them 

off: the North has QO place for them: the West pushes 
them away : Canada expels them : and where -hall tiny go .' 
What shall they do.' They are here isolal ''1: have no home 
of their own ; no community of their own ; no e tuntry of 
their own; no government of their own; no aysl an what- 
ever, intellectual or moral, in which their individual exist- 
forms a part of the machinery: but every cheerful 
hope Beems crushed. They are, 1 was going !•> Bay, dislo- 
cated from humanity. 

* Tin- project fora colony upon oar own borders hai often been 
thought et', : 1 1 1 1 1 even the Legislature of Virginia made some advances, 
at the time of the cession of Louisiana to the United States, to obtain a 
territory for free colored people there. Objections, however, ofaseri- 
ture, and probably insuperable, seem always to meet every plan 
of this kind, fnstead ofa State, it has been said, such colony, especially 
of general emancipation, would soon be a nation, In 25 years 
the population of the colored would l>e nearly 6,000,000, — in 55 yean 
amnion of more than 1 1,000,000. Itisthoughl that it is better and safer 
that they should remain among at, than be collected in masses near us. 



BALTIMORE MEMORIAL. 179 

The free people of color in Baltimore, seem to have 
taken a correct but painful view of this subject, in a memo- 
rial which is now before me : they say, to the citizens of 
Baltimore, " We have hitherto beheld, in silence, but with 
intense interest, the efforts of the wise and philanthropic in 
our behalf. If it became us to be silent, it became us also to 
feel the liveliest anxiety and gratitude. The time has now 
arrived, as we believe, in which your work and our happi- 
ness may be promoted by the expression of our opinions. 
We reside among you, and are yet strangers ; natives, and 
yet not citizens; surrounded by the freest people and most 
republican institutions in the world, and yet enjoying none 
of the immunities of freedom. This singularity in our con- 
dition has not failed to strike us as well as you : but we 
know it is irremediable here. Our differences of color, the 
servitude of many and most of our brethren, and the pre- 
judices which those circumstances have naturally occasioned, 
will not allow us to hope, even if we could desire, to mingle 
with you, one day, in the benefits of citizenship. As long 
as we remain among you, we must (and shall) be content to 
be a distinct caste, exposed to the indignities and dangers, 
physical and moral, to which our situation makes us liable. 
All that Ave may expect, is to merit by our peaceable and 
orderly behaviour, your consideration and the protection of 
the laws. It is not to be imputed to you that we are here. 
Your ancestors remonstrated against the introduction of tho 
first of our race, who were brought amongst you ; and it 
was the mother country that insisted on their admission, 
that her colonics and she might profit, as she thought, by 
their compulsory labor. Leaving out all considerations of 
generosity, humanity, and benevolence, you have the strong- 
est reasons to favor and facilitate the withdrawal from among 
you of such as wish to remove. But if you have every 
reason to wish for our removal, how much greater arc our 
Inducements to remove 1 Though we arc not slaves, we are 
not tree. Beyond a mere subsistence, and the impulse of 



ISO BALTIMORE MEMORIAL. 

religion, tliore is nothing to arouse us to the exercise of 
our faculties, or excite us to the attainment of eminence. 
Though under the shield of your laws, we are partialh pro- 
tected, not totally oppressed; nevertheless, our situation 
will and must inevitably have the effect of crushing, not 
developing tho capacities that God has given us. We are, 
besides, of opinion, that our absence will accelerate the 
liberation of such of our brethren as arc in bondage, by the 
permission of Providence. When such of us as wish, and 
may be able, shall have gone before to open and lead the 
way, a channel will be left, through which may be poured 
such as hereafter receive their freedom from the kindni 
interests of their masters, or by public opinion and legisla- 
tive enactment, and who are willing to join us, who have 
preceded them. Of the many schemes that have been pro- 
posed, we must approve of that of African Colonization. 
It' we were able and at liberty to go whithersoever we 
would, the greater number, willing to leave this community, 
would prefer Libekia, on tin- coast of Africa. We shall 
carry your language, your customs, your opinions, and ( fcris- 
tianity to that now desolate shore, and thence they will gra- 
dually spread with our growth, far into the continent. The 
slave-trade, both external and internal, can be abolished only 
by settlements on the coast. We foresee thai difficulties and 
dangers await those who emigrate, such as iXi-ry infant es- 
tablishment must encounter and endure. Hut 'Ethiopia 
shall lift her bands unto God.' Thousands and tens of thou- 
sands poorer than we, annually emigrate from Europe to 
your country, and soon have it in their power to hasten the 
arrival of those they left behind. If we were doubtful of 
your good will and benevolent intentions, we would remind 
you of the time when yon were in a situation similar to 
ours, and when your forefathers were driven by religious 
lotion to ;i distant and inhospitable shore. An empire 
may be the result of our emigration, as of theirs. The pro- 
tection, kindness, and assistance which you would have de> 



EMBARKATION OF COLONISTS. 1S1 

sired for yourselves under such circumstances, now extend 
to us." This memorial, of which I have given the greater 
part, was adopted at meetings of " respectable free people 
of color, held in the Bethel" and African churches, which 
meetings were composed of " several denominations, from 
every part of the city." The memorial is a well written 
document, and cannot be read without interest.' 

' There is,' said Henry, ' a wide field for enterprise in 
Africa, and for Christian effort ; if I were an African, I 
think I should not hesitate to go.' 

' I was exceedingly interested many years since to wit- 
ness the embarkation of emigrants from one of our principal 
ports ; and was surprised to find in how many instances the 
native origin in respect to particular districts, of those who 
were about to sail, might be determined. Said a dear 
friend, who soon after laid down his life, on a mission to 
Africa* " There is the aged Fantee and Haousian — they say 
' I go to encourage the young — they can never be elevated 
here — I have tried it sixty years — it is in vain — could I by 
my example induce them to embark, and I die the next day, 
I should be satisfied.' There is also the Congoese, the 
Gulan, the Angolan, the Aceran, and Ashantee — all with 
their faces to the East. And there is one case of great in- 
terest — the name of that girl is A-cush-u-no-no. In Africa 
she would be styled a young Fantee Princess. She is an 
heir of heaven, we have every reason to believe." 

' It is delightful to anticipate, as I think we may, with 
great confidence, the result of the colonization enterprise. 
It is glorious in its object — it will, I doubt not, be truly glo- 
rious in its results.' 

* The Rev. Horace Sessions. He was actively engaged in the 
colonization cause, accompanied an expedition to Liberia, and died 
on his return to resume his labors in behalf of the cause in this 
country. The death of this amiable and excellent young man, was 
greatly lamented. 



(Di ..: XS2. 

" For myself, I am free to say, that of all things that have been 
going on in our favor since 17S7, when the abolition of the slave- 
• riously proposed, that which is going on in the United 
States is the most important It surpasses every thing that has yet 
occurred. No sooner had your colony been established ou Cape 
Montscrado, than there appeared a disposition among the owners of 
slaves to give them freedom voluntarily and without compensation, 
and allow them to be sent to the land of their fathers, so that you 
have many thousauds redeemed, without any cost for their redemp- 
tion. To me this is tn hing. Can this have taken place 
without the intervention of the Spirit of God I ' — Thomat Clarkxm. 

' It is a sett!- uld think." said Caroluu — 'I 

lor it as settled i:i my own mind, at least, that Afri- 

and their descendants cannot be so useful or happy, as 

citizens of this country, as they might be in their fathers' 

native land.' 

Said, Mr. L. ' I have I ring over a discourse by 

• v. Dr. Miller, of Princeton, which was delivered in 
! 328 before the Synod of New Jersey. The Dr. holds this 
language in refereni it, which, if you pli I 

will read: "If liberated and left among (he whites, they 
would be a constanl source of annoyance, corruption, and 
danger. They could never be trusted as faithful citizens; 
for they could never feel thai their interests and those of 
the whites are precisely the same. Bach would regard the 
other with painful suspicion and apprehension. It is essen- 
tial to the interesl i of each thai they be separated to such 
distances from each other as to avoid too frequent inter- 
course. Ihej should be in a situation to live i 
and independent people. If we would consult to 

d eternal g, this must be done ; ifwewould 

■ i in- own inl >ros1 and happiness, it is equally neces- 



MOTIVES TO RESPECTABILITY. 183 

sary." Again he says, " They could never be either re- 
spectable or happy in the midst of a white population. 
They can never, -whilst public sentiment remains -what it is, 
associate with the whites on terms of equality. They may- 
be industrious and regular ; they may be enterprising and 
successful in business; and exhibit talents, knowledge, and 
wealth ; but after all they can never associate with the 
whites on terms comfortable to either. They will be treat- 
ed, and they will feel as inferiors. They cannot live under 
the influence of that sense of character, of those excite- 
ments to aim at high standing in society which operate 
upon a corresponding number of white people. As they 
cannot fail to have a degraded standing, so this will confer 
en them in a greater or less degree a degraded character. 
Place any number of human beings, of whatever complex- 
ion, in a situation in which they can never aspire to an 
equality with those around them, and you take away from 
them one of the main incitements to industry, to honorable 
enterprise, and to emulation of excellence." 

' Pais is indeed but a repetition of the sentiments which 
I have already advanced in these conversations. Slavery 
will sooner or later, cease from among us ; and I pray that 
the hour may hasten when our country shall be delivered 
from the scourge and reproach. But the more I contem- 
plate the subject, the more I am convinced that the plan 
which gives promise of greatest and most extensive benefit 
to the slaves in our country, as well as to the whites, is 
emancipation united with colonization. Nor can I doubt 
that the colored people of this country who are already 
nominally free, will best promote their own interests, as 
well as the best interests of their race and the salvation of 
their fathers' native continent, by planting themselves in 
some position on the inviting shores of Africa.' 

'But, Pa, they must be prepared by education, and 
suitable moral and religious instruction, in order to be good 
citizens of any country ?' 



184 THE COLONIZATION ENTERPRISE. 

'Certainly. African improvement and colonization 
should be considered inseparable. Great care must be 
taken nol to destroy the hope of a rich blessing for Africa, 
by sending thither a people who are not prepared to assist 
in laying the foundation of a great and cultivated, prosper- 
ous and Christian nation. The germ of such an empire, 1 
am happy to say, has already, as 1 confidently believe, 
taken root in Africa. The leaven of Christianity is already 
in the midst of her dark and absurd superstitions. And I 
have no doubt that before a century has passed away, 
millions of free and enlightened and Christian people will 
lift up their hearts on the shores of Africa, in thanks- 
givings to God, in grateful recollection of the Pilgrims of 
Mcsurado !' 

• We should like. Pa. to know more than we do of colo- 
nization, and of the object and history of the American 
Colonization Society.' 

' I was just about to suggest the same.' said Henry. 

'It will give me great pleasure to gratify your wishes in 
this respect. Tin; Axxricak Colonization Socihty is a 
voluntary and benevolent association which was formed at 
Washington, District of Columbia, in the December of 
1810. "Who is entitled to the honor of first suggesting its 
formation and character, 1 shall not undertake to determine. 
As '-arly as 1777. Mr. Jefferson proposed to the legisla- 
ture of Virginia to have incorporated in the revised, code 
of that State, a plan for colonizing the free colored popula- 
tion of the United States. He proposed to establish a 
Colony in some part of our Western country. Dr. Pother* 
gill and Granville sharp appear the first in Rngland who 
entertained the Bubject of colonization in Africa, the latter 
of whom may be regarded as the founder of the colony of 

Sierra Leone. The earliest BUggestions that I have met 
with on the Bubjecl of colonization, from over the waters, 
were from the pen of Granville sharp, bearing date 1783. 
It i> --aid that Anthonj Benezet, of Philadelphia, in a letter 



HISTORY OF COLONIZATION. 185 

addressed to Dr. Fothergill, 1773, proposed to colonize 
the negroes of this country in " that large extent of country 
from the west side of the Alleghany mountains to the 
Mississippi, on a breadth of four or five hundred miles." 
Benezet also writes, under date of 4th month, 28th, 1773, 
" I am like-minded with thee, with respect to the danger 
and difficulty which would attend a sudden manumission of 
those negroes now in the southern colonies, as well to 
themselves as the whites." A society seems to have been 
formed in Pennsylvania, in 1785, for promoting the gradual 
abolition of slavery, and received a charter in 1789 ; but it 
does not appear that this body contemplated the coloniza- 
tion of the free blacks in a separate community. For this 
society, however, it has been claimed by an able advocate 
for colonization, that it is " the parent of perhaps all simi- 
lar institutions in this country." 

' In 1787, Dr. Thornton, of Washington, formed a pro- 
ject for colonizing, on the Western coast of Africa, free 
men of color, from the United States ; and published an 
address to those residing in Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island, inviting them to accompany him to Africa for the 
purpose of forming a settlement. He was enthusiastically 
engaged in the enterprize, and was so far successful that he 
found a sufficient number of free blacks ready to go ; but 
his efforts failed for want of funds, the public mind not 
being then sufficiently prepared for any such enterprise of 
benevolence to afford that pecuniary aid which is so com- 
mendably furnished when any good object presents itself 
at the present day. In 1789 the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of 
Rhode Island, corresponded on the subject with Granville 
Sharp, and in 1790, an able article, promotive of the same 
object, was published by Ferdinando Fairfax, of Virginia, 
In 1801 the legislature of Virginia resolved instructions to 
their Governor, Mr. Monroe, to apply to the President of 
the United States, and urge him to institute negotiations 
with some of the powers of Europe possessed of colonies 



18G FIRST EMIGRATION TO AFRICA. 

on the coast of Africa, for an asylum to which emancipated 
es might be sent A correspondence followed between 
President Jefferson and the Sierra Leone Company, and 
afterwards with the government of Portugal ; but obstacles 
;itcd and that project was abandoned. 
'The plan of a Colonization Society, it is generally con- 
sidered, was proposed by the Rev. Robert Finley, of New- 
y. He, it seems, devoted much thought to the subject 
in 1814, as also in 1815. it is also evident that the Rev. 
Samuel J. Mills, of Connecticut, was not, at this time, 
without the conception of the great plan in his own mind. 
Some, who a^svit that they speak from personal knowledge, 
represent Mr. Mills as the man. who. under God, was at 
the foundation of this institution. Be that as it may. he was 
•. a warm advocate for the measure, and greatly 
:t in bringing about the desired result The American 
ization Society was formed, as 1 have said, in 1816, 
and in the steps immediately preliminary to its organization 
are recorded the names of Mr. Finley, Mr. Mills, the Hon. 
( '. F. Mercer of Virginia, and F. S. Key, and El B. Cald- 
well, Esqra of Washington. Among those who attended 
the first meeting, for the organization of the Society, maj bo 
mspicuous, the Hon. Bushrod Washing- 
ton, who was first President of the Society, and the Hon. 
i . Clay, one of its earliest Vice-Presidents, and since 
its President 

'The first Emigration of colored people to Africa from 
the United States was in lslo. about a year previous to the 
tori nation of the American < ©Ionization Society. This expe- 
dition was under the directi fPaul < Juffee, a colored man 

and truly respectable, benevolent and wealthy member of 
the denomination of Friends. Captain Cuffee, of New Bed- 
ford, Massachusetts, sailed from Boston, in his own vessel, 
taking with him thirty-eight persons to Sierra Leone, thirty 
of who a b • carried out gratuitously, al an expense to him- 
• f more than three thousand dollars.' 



PAUL CUFFEE. 187 

' Did you say that he was a colored man, Pa V 
' I did ; and very much of a gentleman he was too. His 
father was a poor African, whom the hand of unfeeling ava- 
rice dragged from his native home and connexions into 
slavery ; but by his good conduct, faithfulness and persever- 
ing industry, he, in time, obtained his freedom. Paul, the 
son, was poor in his early days ; but was industrious and 
enterprising, by which traits, joined to much practical wis- 
dom and sterling common sense, he at length rose to opu- 
lence. He was largely concerned in commerce ; and in 
many voyages to Russia, England, Africa, the West Indies, 
and Southern States, commanded his own ship. A man of 
the strictest integrity, modest and yet dignified in his man- 
ners; of a feeling and liberal heart, public spirited and versed 
in the business of the world ; his acquaintance and friendship 
were valued by many who greatly honored him, both in this 
country and in Europe. I remember seeing Mm often, in 
my youth. The last time was as he passed through my 
native place, in his own private carriage, drawn by beauti- 
ful white horses, with a coachman of his own complexion, 
on his way to attend a Yearly Meeting of the Society of 
Friends, of which I have said he was a worthy and highly 
respected member.* 

* It is said that " few could remain long in his presence without for- 
getting their prejudice against color, and feeling their hearts expand 
with juster sentiments towards the most injured portion of the human 
family." Besides the voyage to Africa with the emigrants, he is said to 
have previously gone both to England and Africa in aid of the same 
great object, the improvement of the African race. He died in 1S17, 
leaving an estate valued at $20,000. The Rev. Peter Williams, a colored 
man, and Minister of an African church in the city of New-York, con- 
nected with the Frotestant Episcopal Church, in a sermon preached on 
occasion of the death of Captain Cuffee, has these remarks, which wo 
quote both as honorable testimony to the estimation in which Captain 
Cuffee was held, and as pleasing evidence of the good sense ami re- 
spectable talents of the Rector of St. Philip's Church '."His countenance 
was serious but mild; his speech and habit plain and unostentatious ; 
his deportment dignified and prepossessing, blending gravity with mo- 



188 COLONIZATION AGENTS VISIT AFRICA. 

'In 1818 tlie American Colonization Society appointed 
as agents, the Rev. Samuel John Mills, whose labors and 
praj its, in the short time that he lived, accomplished much 
for the glory of God, and laid the foundation for great re- 
sults in the conversion of perishing heathen, and the Rev. 
Ebenezer Burgess, now Dr. Burgess, the excellent Pastor 
of one of the churches of New-England ; and instructed 
till-in to proceed to the coast of Africa, by the way of Eng- 
land, to make the necessary inquiries for a suitable location 
of a colony. These gentlemen visited all the ports from 
Sierra Leone to Sherbro, and acquired much valuable infor- 
mation. Mr. Mills, as you know, died <>n the passage from 
Africa, leaving the church to mourn the loss of one of the 
best and must useful ot' men. ^ ou recollect, probably, the 
just and eloquent tribute to the memory of this man of God, 
by the Rev. Mr. Bacon of New Haven. Mr. Bacon, you 
know ; and know also that he is the ardent and faithful friend 
of Africa. I must, through respect for the memory of the 
sainted Mills, read to you an extracl from Mr. Bacon's dis- 
course. We will then postpone any further conversation 
until evening, when we will hope to resume the subject.' 

"A young minister of the gospel once said to an inti- 
mate friend. 'My brother, you and 1 are little men. hut be- 
fore we die our influence must be felt on the other side of 
the world." Not mans years after, a ship, returning from a 
distanl quarter of the globe, paused on her passage across 
the deep. There stood on her deck a man of (iod, who wept 

over the dead body of his friend, lie prayed, and the sai- 

lors wept with him. And the\ consigned that body to the 

ocean. It was the body ot' the man who, in the ardor of 

il.-ty :ni'l m > etnesa, and fixmnsa with genueneu and humility. * * 
in- rn.se like the sun. diffanng wider Bud wider the raja of his benefi- 
cence; until having attained his zenith, even the nation! beyond 

the teaa wire made to rejoice in hi* heams. * * His voyages are all 

nver: in- batma.de bit last, ami it was to the haven of eternal re* 

pe.se."— .V. Y. fl jKCtator, 1817 ; and Grijjini I'/ai. 



SAMUEL JOHN MILLS. 189 

youthful benevolence, had aspired to extend his influence 
through the world. He died in youth ; but he had redeem- 
ed his pledge ; and at this hour his influence is felt in Asia, 
in Africa, in the Islands of the sea, and in every corner of 
his native country. This was Samuel John Mills; and 
all who know his history, will say that I have exaggerated 
neither the grandeur of his aspirations^ nor the result of hi.* 
efforts. He traversed our land like a ministering spirit, 
silently, and yet effectually, from the hill country of the 
Pilgrims to the valley of the Missouri. He wandered on 
errands of benevolence from village to village, and from city 
to city, pleading now with the patriot for a country growing 
up to an immensity of power, and now with the Christian, 
for a world lying in wickedness. He explored in person 
the desolation of the West, and in person he stirred up to 
enterprise and effort the churches of the East. He lived for 
India and Owhyhee, and died in the service of Africa. He 
went to heaven in his youth ; but his works do follow him, 
like a long train of glory that still widens and brightens, 
and will widen and brighten for ever." 

' Let me repeat,' said Caroline, ' as a supplement to the 
truly eloquent extract from Mr. Bacon's eulogium, the poe- 
try of one whom I love to quote, and whose effusions you, 
Pa, and Henry, both love to hear, and then I will consent 
to adjourn ; although, I confess, I shall long for the evening 
to come, to resume the subject, for I have become deeply 
interacted.' 

' I will hear you with pleasure, Caroline,' said her father. 
Caroline remarked, ' They are the lines of Mrs. Sigourney, 
on reading the Biography of Mr. Mills.' 

" Oh Africk ! raise thy voice and weep 
For him who sought to heal thy wo, 
Whose bones beneath the briny deep 
Bleach where the pearl and coral glow. 

Unfetter'd by the wiles of earth. 
And girded for the race of heaven, 



100 FRIENDS OF AFRICA. 

Even from bis dedicated birth 
To God and thee his soul was given. 

In hermit cells of prayerful thought, 
In meditation's holy sphere, 

He nursed that sacred wish which sought 
The darkness of a world to cheer. 

Our western wilds where outcasts roam, 
Sad India's vales with blood defac'd, 

Blest Obookiah's sea-girt home 
The ardor of his zeal embrac'd. 

But thou, indebted clime, that drew 
Through torrid seas his stranger sail, 

Whose fall cliffs heard his fond adieu, 
Pour forth the wildest, bitterest waiL" 



mwmmL.vwu :. 



" Many circumstances at pi m to concur in brightening 

tlw prospects of the Society, and cherishing the hope that tin- time 
will come when the dreadful calamity which has bo Long afflicted our 
country, and filled bo many with despair, will lie gradually removed, 

and by means < sistent with justice, peace, and the genera] Batis- 

faction : thus giving to our country the full enjoyment of the bless- 

ings of liberty, 1 to the world the full benefit of its great ex- 

ample." — Ma 

Mr. L. remarked, at the opening of this conversation, ' It 
icurred b> me that, in mentioning the early friends of 
Africa, I ought Dot to have omitted mentioning more parti- 
cularly the name of Anthony Benezet 11'^ name will live, 
whilal virtue and benevolence are respected among men; 



FRIENDS OF AFRICA. 101 

and his earnestness in the cause of humanity will he remem- 
bered long after the history of Africa's redemption shall be 
written. Benezet established a free school in Philadelphia 
for the education of colored people, which is still in opera- 
tion in Willing's alley, and at which John Williams and 
Peter Harris, interesting youths from the native tribes of 
Bassa Cove, were partially educated ; the former of whom 
returned to Africa, and the latter, an African prince, went 
to Lafayette College, for the completion of his education. 
Benezet was always prompt to plead in the behalf of the co- 
lored race, as, to their honor be it told, have ever been the 
respectable Society of Friends, of which he was a member, 
to feel a deep concern to ameliorate the condition of this un- 
happy class of their fellow-men. Benezet early caused to be 
republished in Philadelphia the celebrated tract of Gran- 
ville Sharp, on the injustice of the slave-trade, and also wrote 
and published a work on the subject himself, which was re- 
published in England. He commenced a correspondence 
with Mr. Sharp on the subject, in 1772, of this correspon- 
dence I will give you another extract : — " I doubt not," he 
writes, " but thou wilt, upon inquiry, find more well-minded 
people ready to cry thee ' God speed,' in this weighty ser- 
vice, than thou art aware of. The most solid amongst all 
dissenters, particularly the Presbyterians, would be well- 
pleased to see an end put to the slave-trade, and many, to 
slavery itself. The people of New England have made a 
law that nearly amounts to a prohibition of the trade, and I 
am informed, have proposed to the governor and council, 
that all the negroes born in the country shall be free at a 
certain age. The people of Maryland and Virginia, are so 
convinced of the inexpediency, if not of the iniquity of any 
farther importation of negroes, that twenty thousand people 
would freely join in a petition to Parliament, against any 
further import." Roberts Yaux, in his life of Benezet, *a ys, 
" During the sitting of the Legislature, 1780, a session me- 
morable for the enactment of a law which commenced the 



102 THE ONE ODJECT OF COLONIZATION. 

gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania," Benezet " had 
private interviews on the subject with every member of the 
government^ and no doubt thus essentially contributed to the 
adoption <>f that celebrated measure." 

'1 v. ill now endeavor to satisfy your inquiry in respect 
to the object of the American Colonization Society. This 
can be done in a few words, by referring to the constitution 
itself, of the Society, the first two articles of which are as 
follows : 

1 " Article I. This Society shall be called the American 
Society for colonizing the free people of color of the 
United States. 

' " Article II. The object to which its attention is to be 
exclusively directed, is to promote and execute a plan 
for colonizing, with their consent, the free people of 
color residing in our country, ix africa, or such other 
place as Congress shall deem expedient."' 

' Is this alone the object of the. Society V said Caroline, 
'I had supposed that it contemplated also the suppression of 
the slave-trade, and the final emancipation of slaves in our 
country.' 

' Its whole object,' said Mr. L. ' is stated in the second 
article of its constitution. Other important ends may be 
obtained as the means of establishing and building up the 
colony, or as consequences of the efforts for colonization ■ 
but this is the one object it lias in view. Pursuing this one 
object, th<' North and die South maj unite in harmonious 
action. The subject of emancipation it passes by, knowing 
that this belongs exclusively to the several States in which 
slavery is tolerated, and to individual proprietors in those 
States, under and according to their laws. The subject 01 
the slave-trade is cot contemplated directly in the constitu- 
tion of the Society, for the authority of its suppression is 

vested onl j in the government of the nations. Nor does it 

directly aim at the education and improvement of the 
blacks in this country ; for this must be under the dircc- 



APPROVED B* THE JUDICIOUS. 19o 

tion of State Governments, or of State Societies, and no 
interference in the domestic concerns of any one State, is 
admissible on the part of inhabitants of another State. At 
the same time, to use the language of Mr. Clay, then one 
of its Vice-Presidents, '• It hopes that if it shall demonstrate 
the practicability of the successful removal to Africa, of 
free persons of color, with their own consent; the cause of 
emancipation, either by States or by individuals, may be 
incidentally advanced. At the same time, our country will 
be relieved of a great evil in proportion as colonization 
suceeeds ; those who may remove will find their condition 
greatly improved ; and by introducing knowledge, industry, 
and religion into Africa, we shall contribute to the sup- 
pression of the slave-trade, and to the civilization and con- 
version of a continent ! These are ends which will be 
attained although the object of the Society is one." 

' The course which the Society takes, unites a greater 
number of judicious and well disposed persons of every 
section of our common country, probably, than any other 
plan could. It is true, there are not a few who object : the 
slave-holder has, in some instances, indulged the suspicion 
that an interference " with the rights of property," may 
be intended ; and the advocate of general and immediate 
emancipation without discrimination, has cast upon the 
Society his keenest reproaches, alleging that its influence, 
if not its direct object, is to perpetuate the existence of 
slavery. These objections, however, so diametrically op- 
posite, man}' advocates of colonization regard as matter of 
felicitation, rather than otherwise, inasmuch as they evince 
the wisdom of the plan of operation which is proposed. 
The virulent denunciations of both extremes of puhlio 
sentiment, they say, were to be expected by a Society 
rejecting the hurtful in the views of either, although adopt- 
ing the liberal in both. Besides, had it been warmly es- 
poused at the first by either, it would have been irrecon- 
cileably opposed by the other, and would have been itself 

9 



194 DIOTIHaUISHBD I KIENDS. 

the dividing line between two great parties, leaving no 
middle ground on which the great majority of the nation 
might Btand, as now. and safely urge forward this cau 
philanthropy and of patriotism, without compromise of 
principles, or the violation of the constitution and endan- 
germent of the Union.' 

'This Society,' Caroline here remarked, 'we know, is 

approved by many judicious and g 1 men, and 1 do not 

see why it should be opposed, or suspected of designing to 
take any other course than that which it has taken, and 
still pursues. " Charily thinketh no evil.'* ' 

Henry said, ; l wonder how the subject would strike 
the mind of a man of enlarged views and philanthropic 
soul, who was in a situation to see it a- it i<. and to judge 
without prejudice. I should think now, that the opinion of 
such a man as LAFATBTTB, would be worthy of regard; if 
lie approved of colonization, or disapproved of it. 1 Bhould 
think that his unprejudiced opinion would have influence.' 
'Lafayette was a Vice-President of the Colonization 
Society. Henry,' said Caroline. 

' O no. ( Proline,' said 11. ' are you not mistaken V 
'Yes," said Mr. L. 'Lafayette was an honorary Vice- 
President of the Colonization Society. And we have his 
opinion, expressly, on the subject of Colonization. In a let- 
ter, dated al " Paris, Oct. 29, 1831," he says, "The pro- 
gressing state of our Liberia estabhshment is to me a 
source of enjoyment and the m<><t lively interest. Pboi d 
as 1 am or thb BOHOB of being one of the Vioe-Presidenta 
of the Society, 1 only regret that I cannot make myself 
more useful. When the Society meet, he pleased to pre- 
sent my wishes, gratitude, and respect."' 

■ \\ bo BT< e Of the other oliieers of the Society ; 

man) of our mosl distinguished public men V 

• It has enjoyed both the entire confidence of our most 
distinguished men, and the high honor of their influence 
and Bervioes as its members and officers. Some of these 



DISTINGUISHED FRIENDS. 105 

" are not. for God has taken them ;" others are with ns, 
and long may they he spared- to help forward the cause of 
colonization, and as ornaments and blessings to the world. 
The Hon. Bushrod Washington, I have already named, as 
its first President. Charles Carroll was President of the 
Society after the death of Judge Washington. James Ma- 
dison was its next President. Henry Clay, as its President, 
succeeded Mr. Madison. The late Chief-Justice Marshall 
and the venerable and lamented Bishop White, have been 
among its Vice-Presidents ; also Hon. Win. II. Crawford, 
Bishop McKendree, Robert Ralston, the Rt. Hun. Lord 
Bexley of England, Rev. Leonard Woods, D.D., Hon. John 
Cotton Smith, President Fisk, Gov. Southard, Samuel 
Bayard, General Mercer, Rev. Dr. O'in, Rev. Dr. Alex- 
ander. Among its present officers, besides Mr. Clay, are 
Daniel Webster, President Day, Theo. Frelinghuysen, 
Bishop Meade, Geo. W. Lafayette of France, Elisha Whit- 
tlesey, Bishop Otey, Girard Ralston, Dr. Hodgkin, of 
England, Gen. Scott, Rev. Dr. Bethune, Elliott Cresson, 
Anson G. Phelps, Samuel Gurney of England, W. C. 
Rives, and — I will not undertake to enumerate more 
although I might recollect and mention many others of 
distinguished eminence in different parts of the Union. Its 
Secretary is the Rev. W. McLain, of Washington. The 
Colonization Society has, indeed, become an object of 
admiration in different parts of the globe.' 

' I recollect,' said Henry, ' among those whose appro- 
bation it received, the name of Wilberfbrce. 5 

' In respect to Wilberfbrce, your apprehension is cor- 
rect that it received his approbation,' said Mr. L. " Troja 
fait !' It may be considered a mooted point, however, as 
relates to the final decision of the mind of the philanthro- 
pic and lamented Wilberfbrce. It is asserted that he with- 
drew confidence from the cause, although he had been the 
unhesitating friend and ad v< icate of e< 'Ionization. In regard 
to this matter, Dr. Hodgkin, of London, says that " Wil- 



100 AOXLL1A1 

berforoe oontinued to avow his approbation of the S 
until aear the period of bis lamented death, when the ex- 
port* statemenl i of those who knew the importance of his 
authority, obtained a triumph, the achievement of which 
confers no honor." 

'The Society has not been without many and distinguish- 
ed friends abroad. Lord. Althorp, the late learned Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer, and one of the must enlightened 
and distinguished noblemen of England, publicly pro- 
nounced the foundation of the colony of Liberia t«> be "one 
of the greatest events of modern times." The immortal 
Clarkson, whose labors in the cause of African freedom 
have been greater than those of almost any other man 
living, was ever " strongly attached to the Society;" the 
Duke ut' Sussex, Lord Bexley, the Duke ■ rd, the 

Archbishop of 1 >ublin, and others of the highest standing in 
society, are and were officers of a Society denominated 
The British African Colonization Society, formed in 
G ■ Britain in aid of the colonization enterprise. They 
have considered the plan of the American Colonization 
.- .■-■'■ ; airablj . ' L to introduce Christianity 
and civilization among the natives of Africa, and to extir- 
pate the slave-trade, which the efforts of Greal Britain and 
other powers have been unable to suppress." I 
mention many eminent foreigners who have expressed their 
decided approbation of the Society.' 

• Auxiliaries arc found, 1 presume, in almost ever) State 
of the Union ; are they not, Pa :" 

1 1 am not able to specify the number, but 1 recollect 
there arc State and other auxiliaries in Maine, New Hamp- 
shire, Vermont, M tts, Connecticut, New-York, 
. ; Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina. Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, 
and Delaware; and resolutions approving of the Society, 
have been passed by the Legislatures of most of these 
and other State-., and b) 010Bt of these also the American 



SUSTAINED BY VOLUNTARY OFFERINGS. 197 

Colonization Society has been recommended to the patron- 
age of the General Government. Some of the States have 
made conditional appropriations for their respective treasu- 
ries. Maryland set a noble example to her sister States 
by granting '$200,000 from her treasury — the sum of 
120,000 annually for ten years — to enable the free blacks 
of Maryland to remove to Liberia. 

' The Society has also received the approbation of all 
prominent denominations, by the acts of their ecclesiasti- 
cal judicatories, whether assemblies, general associations, 
synods, classes, meetings, or conventions. Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians, the Dutch Reformed, Methodists, Congre- 
gationalists, Baptists, Lutherans, Moravians, and Friends, 
have thought proper, in their larger ecclesiastical bodies, 
to commend the objects of the Society to the patronage 
and good wishes of the community.' 

' Has the Society considerable funds by which to sustain 
its operations V 

' It has almost none, aside from voluntary contributions, 
which are made from week to week. Its income, however, 
from these sources, has been considerable, and gradually 
increasing from its commencement.' 

' In our next conversation, we will turn our attention 
to Liberia.' 



jAinon xxx 



•■ Yea ! thy pron 1 [or Is, unpitying band, shall see 
That man balh yel n soul, and dare be free ; 
A little \\ hile, along thy saddening plains, 
The Btarless night of desolation reigns ; 
Truth shall restore the li y lit by Nature given, 
And, like Prometheus, !>i i ult the fire of heaven ! 
Prone to the dust Oppression shall l>o hurl'd — 
Her name, her nature, wither'd from the world." — Campbell. 

'You promised, in our last conversation,' said Caroline, 
'that we should this morning hear something of the history 
of Liberia; and I assure you, Pa, that Henry and 1 have 
a great deal of curiosity to satisfy on this subject, so that 
you may expect to be troubled withagreat many questions. 
Why, Sir, was the country in which the colonies arc lo- 
cated, called Libi /•''</ /' 

■ 1 am much gratified to find that you both take so deep 
an interest in the subject; and shall l>o pleased to hear and 
to iv]>l\ to as man) inquiries as you maj feel inclined to 
make. The name "Liberia," was given to the district of 
country in which the colonies are found, because it is the 
land of the free'd; the name being coined from the Latin 
adjective " liber," or " libera," free. 

•The central point of the colony of Liberia, proper, is 
Cape Mesurado, or Montserado, which is represented as a 
mosl beautiful and commanding site. Liberia embraces 
all the distinct colonies which are or ma\ he planted. At 
the time of its declaration of independence, in 18 l*. it \\as 
Bituated between 1° 20' and 0° 40' N. Lat and7°80'and 
11° \\ . Long, from Greenwich, extending along the coast 
several hundred miles, reaching into the interior indefi- 



LIBERIA. 199 

nitel y. But by more recent purchases, it now covers nearly 
800 miles of coast. Rivers, some of considerable size, wa- 
ter the country throughout. The soil is extremely fertile, 
and abounds in all the productions of tropical climates. 
The emigrant population in Liberia, exclusive of the Mary- 
land Colony, was in 1830, about G,000, and the native po- 
pulation was estimated at 150,000. Of these last more 
than 500 were, so far prepared by civilization and good 
influences, to discharge the duties of citizenship, that they 
were admitted to the privileges of the polls and to the 
rights of citizenship in general.* 

' The chief city in the colony is Monrovia ; so called in 
honor of the late ex-President of the United States, James 
Monroe. It is situated on Cape Montserado, at the mouth 
of the Mesurado river ; aim contains about 400 buildings, 
among which are — the Government-house, of wood and 
stone ; Court-house, stone ; Senate-hall, stone ; prison, stone ; 
two printing-offices ; three churches, presbyterian, metho- 
dist, and baptist; four school-houses, stone and brick; tan- 
nery ; cabinet-manufactory ; four blacksmiths'-shops ; eight 
shoemakcrs'-shops ; three tailors'-shops ; market-house ; 
forty stone dwelling-houses ; thirteen stone stores ; three 
wood and stone stores ; fifty-one wood and stone dwelling- 
houses ; ninety wood dwelling-houses ; thirty thatched 
dwelling-houses, &c. It has a Temperance Society, number- 
ing upwards of 500 members — and about 1500 inhabitants. 
The houses are generally well built, and of a pleasant appear- 
rance. The city is seventy feet above the sea ; and the tem- 
perature is mild and agreeable, the thermometer not varying 
more than from GT° to 87 aiul the inhabitants enjoying, most 
of the time, a refreshing sea-breeze. The. streets are 100 
feet wide, crossing each other at right angles. The harbor, 

* It is said in the recent Report of the Naval Committee to the 
U. States Congress, that "upward of 80,000 of the natives have be- 
come civilized, and enrolled themselves as citizens of the Republic," 



200 LTBKRIA. 

which is formed by the mouth of the river, is convenient 

ions. Dr. 
Lugenlx el say - : — The dwellings of many of the citiz 
Monrovia are not only comfortably, but elegantly, and 
some of them richly furnished ; and some of the residents 
of this littl : metropolis live in a Btyle ofeaseand 

affluence which does not comport with the contracted 
of those persons who regard a residence in 
irily associated with the almost entire privation of 
the good things of this life. For several years past, there 
have been two newspapers published regularly at Monro- 
via; the •■ Liberia Herald," and "Africa's Luminary."' 

'Seven miles north of the outlet of the Mesurado, is the 
river St. Paul's on which is the town of Caldwell. This 
town, after the plan of some American villages, has but 
one street, which is a mile ami a half long, planted on either 
side with a beautiful row of plaintain and banana trees. 
Caldwell is an agricultural establishment, and is flourishing. 
It has three churches, three day schools, and three Sunday 
schools. It is an interesting fact that one of the native 
kings applied at one of these day schools for admission of 
twelve children : the school was already full. 

1 Between Caldwell and Monrovia, on Stockton creek, 
is ;i settlement of recaptured Africans, called .V - Georgia, 
and planted in pari by the aid of our General Government. 
It contains 500 inhabitants, who, although they were once 
the miserable truants, in chains, of the loathsome slave- 
Bhip, are novi living in the enjoymenl of the blessin 
Christian and civilized life. This place has a church and 
mar two hundred houses. Mr. Buchanan, who visited the. 
place, said, respecting this settlement, "The air of perfect 
. thrift, and comfort, which every where prevails, 
affords a lovely commentary on the advancement which 
til-— ■ interesting people have made in civilization and 
Christian order, under the patronage of the Colonization 
Imagine to yourself some two or three hundred 



LIBERIA. 201 

houses, with streets intersecting each other at regular dis- 
tances, preserved clean as the best swept side-walk in Phi- 
ladelphia, and lined with well planted hedges of Cassava 
and of Plum ; a school-house full of orderly children, neatly 
dressed, and studiously engaged ; and then say whether I 
was guilty of extravagance, in exclaiming as I did, after 
surveying this most lovely scene, that had the Colonization 
Society accomplished no more than has been done in the 
rescue from slavery and savage habits of these people, I 
should have been well satisfied." ' 

' A great portion of the vegetables which are used in 
Monrovia are raised at New Georgia.' 

' North-east of Monrovia, twenty miles, on the same 
river, at the foot of the highlands, is another flourishing 
town called Millsburgh, containing about 500 inhabitants, 
two churches, and one school, and rapidly increasing by 
new colonists. Millsburgh has peculiar advantages, ena- 
bling it to become the commercial medium between the 
interior and the sea-coast.* The land is fertile, and the 
forests abound with excellent timber. The town is repre- 
sented as very neat and healthy.' 

' Dr. Lugunbeel says, " Like the other farming settle- 
ments, the houses generally are separated at a considerable 
distance from one another ; so that the whole township 
extends about a mile and a half along the bank of the river. 
Millsburg is perhaps the most beautiful,, and one of the 
most healthy locations in Liberia. The land is remarkably 
good, and of easy cultivation. A flourishing Female 
Academy is in operation at this place, under the care of 
Mrs. Wilkins, missionary of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. And, on the opposite side of the river is AVhite 
Plains, a mission station of the same Church. 

" Besides these settlements, there are Marshall and 

* The St. Paul's River is supposed to have a course of from 200 
to 300 miles. 

9* 



202 LIBERIA. 

numerous other points along the St. Paul's river, which 
arc occupied by farmers ; so that the banks of this beauti- 
ful stream present, in man) places, the appearance of 
agricultural industry and comfort. 

" Virginia, or New Virginia, as it is sometimes called, 
is a new settlement*, formed principally in the early part 
of 184(5. It is also on the St. Paul's river, opposite Cald- 
well. This is the site of the United States Receptacle for 
liberated Africans, erected in 1^47. 

u JSdina is located on the northern hank of the St. 
John's river, about half a mile from its mouth. It is 
handsomely situated ; and in reference to the healthiness 
of the location, it is perhaps equal to most others in 
Liberia. Some of the citizens ofEdina are engaged in the 
cultivation of exportable articles of produce. 

'• Jjassa Core is located at the junction o{ the Benson 
river (a small stream) with the St. John's, nearly op; 
Edina. Several of the citizens of this place also have 
given considerable attention to the cultivation of coffee, 
arrow-root, and ginger, during the last few years. 

il Bexley is situated on the northern side of the St. 
John's river, about six miles from its mouth. This place, 
like the settlements on the St. Paul's river, occupies a 
considerable extenl ofterritory. It is divided into Upper 
ami Lower Bexley; both together extending about four 
miles along the river. Bexley is a line farming settlement ; 
the land is excellent -. and the Location i^ comparatively 
healthy. Several of the citizens of this place are pretty 
actively engaged in cultivating articles for exportation. 
This is certainly one of the most interesting settlements 
in Liberia. The Mission of the Baptisl Board of Foreign 
Missions is located at this place: also the head quarters of 
tlh' Southern Baptisl Mission. 

•• Greenville is situated at the mouth of the Sinon river, 
about one hundred and thirty miles by sea southeast of 
Monrovia. Like the settlement of Marshall, most of the 



LIBERIA. 203 

houses are located along the sea-shore. Greenville pre- 
sents a handsome appearance from the anchorage. It is 
one of the most healthy settlements in Liberia. The land 
in the immediate vicinity of Greenville, and indeed, of all 
the. other settlements near the sea-shore, is much inferior 
to that on the banks of the rivers, several miles from their 
entrance into the ocean. Consequently those persons who 
expect to live by ' the sweat of their brow,' in the cultivation 
of the soil, will find it greatly to their advantage to locate 
beyond the sound of the breaking surface of the ocean. 

" Readsville is a small firming settlement, on the Sinou 
river, about five miles above Greenville. It was formed 
principally by the people who were manumitted by the late- 
Mrs. Read of Mississippi. 

" In every settlement there is one place, or more, of 
public worship, in which religious services are regularly 
held. And, in nearly every settlement there is one regu- 
lar day and Sunday school, or more. The principal 
deficiency in the system of education in Liberia consists in 
the inability to procure the services of a sufficient number 
of competent teachers. 1 trust that the time is not far 
distant, when a more uniform, permanent, and effectual 
system of education will be in operation in all the settle- 
ments in Liberia. Most of the schools are supported by 
benevolent societies in the United States ; and most of the 
pulpits are filled by ministers who receive stated salaries 
from one or other of the Missionary Societies in the United 
States. 

" The colony of Maryland in Liberia,' which has always 
maintained a distinctive character, and which has always 
been under a different government, from the Republic of 
Liberia, was established in the early part of the year 1834. 
Ever since that period it has continued to progress in in- 
terest and importance ; and, at present, it occupies a pro- 
minent position, as an asylum for the proscribed descen- 
dants of Ham ; to whom the siren song of ' My native 



204 



UBEKI.V 



land ' loses its mellowing cadence in the thrilling, patriotic 
I of • Sweet land of liberty.' 

" Hub interesting ( iolony is located about two tmndred 
and fifty miles, by sea. southeast from Monrovia. — 
Harper, the principal town or settlement, La situated near 
the point of the Cape; (Cape Talmas, a l>old projecting 
promontory, which is one of the most prominent points or 
land-marks <>n the western coast of Africa :) and, from the 
anchorage, it presents a handsome appearance. At the 
distance of aboul half a mile from Harper is the town ot 
East Harper; in which are several beautiful sites for iv>i- 
dences, commanding a tine view of the ocean, and of the 
adjacent hills and vales. Between these two villages, there 
are two large native towns, comprising several hundred 
houses, which present a marked contrast with the comforta- 
ble looking dwellings of the colonist-;. At the distance of 
about two and a halt' miles beyond Harper is another set- 
tlement, called Tumantown. Most ot' the land near the 
road belonging to these two villages is occupied by the 
colonists; so that on both sides of this highway many neat 
little cottages may he seen, and many handsome gardens 
and small farms. 

" The whole population of Maryland in Liberia, exclu- 
sive of aborigines, is about 900." 

■ Maryland in Liberia numbers, with its native popula- 
tion, more than 100,000 inhabitants. They are represent- 
ed as temperate, Intelligent, and Industrious : and as gh Log 
evidence of mental as well as physical energy, that greatly 
encourages the confident hope and • m that thej will 

yet occupj an honorable rank among the civilized world, 

'I must give you an extract from an address from this 

v to the colored people of tli«' United Slates. •• YVe 
wish," say they, "to be candid. It is not every man that 

ii honestly advise, or desire to come to this country. 
To those who are contented to live and educate their chil- 
dren as house servant- and lackeys, we would say. 



LIBERIA. 205 

where you are ; here we have no masters to employ you. 
To the indolent, heedless, and slothful, we would say, tarry 
among the flesh-pots of Egypt ; here we get our bread by 
the sweat of our brow. To drunkards and rioters, we 
would say, come not to us ; you never can become natu- 
ralized in a land where there are no grog-shops, and where 
temperance and order is the motto. To the timorous and 
suspicious, we would say, stay where you have protectors ; 
here we protect ourselves. But the industrious, enterpris- 
ing, and patriotic, of whatever occupation, or enterprise — 
the mechanic, the merchant, the farmer, and especially the 
latter, we would counsel, advise, and entreat, to come over, 
and be one with us, and assist us in this glorious enterprise, 
and enjoy with us that liberty to which we ever were, and 
to which the man of color ever must be a stranger, in 
America, To the ministers of the gospel, both white anil 
colored, we would say, come over to thd great harvest, 
and diffuse amongst us and our benighted neighbors, the 
light of the gospel, without which liberty itself is but slave- 
ry, and freedom perpetual bondage." ' 

' Cape Palmas, on which this last named colony is 
situated, is represented as a place of great beauty and 
natural advantages. 

' I may here add, that on the river Sinou, the Missis- 
sippi Colonization Society have purchased a territory, and 
commenced a colony. The Louisiana Society propose the 
settlement of a colony on the opposite side of the same 
river. And soon I hope to be able to tell you of the pros- 
perity of the colony which Virginia, by her State Coloni- 
zation Society, resolved to plant upon the African coast, 
within the Liberian territory, and under the auspices of the 
Parent Society, to bear the name of New Virginia; also 
that Kentucky has a prosperous colony there ; and indeed 
that many States have in Liberia, distinct colonies, lining 
the coast of western Africa, for many hundred miles, and 
thus furnishing a barrier to the approach of the slaver, on 



2<V> A FKKTILE COUOTBT. 

tlit' one side, whilst on the other they pour the light of 
civilization and Christianity upon benighted millions.' 

'The prosperity of Liberia is truly wonderful,' said 
Henrj ; ' bul 1 have heard it asserted, that the soil is sterile. 
It Jims been said that the country is mostly a desert. 1 

■ A more fertile soil, Henry, and a more productive 
country, 1 suspect it would he difficult to find on the face 
of the earth. Its hills and its plains are covered with a 
verdure that never fades ; the productions of nature keep 
on in their growth through all seasons of the year; and 
even the natives of the country, almost without farming 
tools or skill, with very little labor, make more grain and 
tables than they can consume. They who represent 
Liberia as sterile, must do so through pitiable ignorance, 
or a criminal design to injure the colony. 

•It is true, then' are in Africa extensive deserts: hut 
•what should we think of an attempt to persuade us. who are 
surrounded with the luxuries of a genial soil and climate, 
that our continent is an uninhabitable waste, because it 
contains within its limits •• rocky mountains," u dismal 
swamps." and "barrens!" Mr. Park, the traveller, long 
years ago, said. "All the rich and valuable productions, 
both of tht' East and West Indies, might easily be natural- 
ized, and brought to the utmost perfection in the tropical 
parts of this immense continent Nothing is wanting to 
this end but example, to enlighten the minds of the natives, 
and instruction to enable them to direct their industry to 
proper objects. It was uol possible for me to behold the 
wonderful fertility of the Boil; the vast herds of cattle, 
proper both for labor and food : and a variety of other cir- 
cumstances favorable to colonization and agriculture ; and 
reflect, withal, on the means which [•resented themselves of 
a vast inland navigation, without lamenting that a country 
ffced and favored by nature, should remain in its present 
ge and neglected state." 

1 Indeed, all tourists and journalists, who have explored 



WONDERFULLY PRODUCTIVE. 207 

the continent of Africa, whilst they find barren spots, pic- 
ture also widely-extended regions of the most exuberant 
and astonishing fertility — an exuberance affording so rich 
and spontaneous a profusion of productions, that the un- 
governed natives have not the necessary excitement to exer- 
tion. Liberia lays claims, supported by the testimony of 
undoubted witnesses, to equal fertility with any other por- 
tion of the continent.* 

' The colonists have all the domestic animals which are 
found in this country. They raise a great variety of vegeta- 
bles and tropical fruits. Coffee grows spontaneously, and 
of an excellent kind. The attention of several of the most 
respectable colonists has been turned to its cultivation, and 

* Dr. Lungenbeel says: The land in the immediate vicinity of 
the ocean in Liberia, is generally low. There are some elevated 
spots, however, snch as those on which the villages of Monrovia and 
Harper are located. The land generally becomes more elevated 
towards the interior ; and, in some places, within fifty miles of the 
coast, it is epiite mountainous. Far as the eye can reach from the 
highest points of land in the vicinity of the ocean, the whole country 
presents the appearance of a deep, unbroken forest, with hill-top 
rising above hill-top towards the vast interior ; the country con- 
sisting, not as is supposed by some persons, of arid plains and 
burning sands, but of hills and valleys, covered with the verdure 
of perpetual spring. The country is well watered ; many beautiful 
streams may be seen winding their way amidst blooming Sowers 
and wild shrubbery ; and many cooling springs of clear, sparkling 
water, invites the weary traveller to linger and quench his thirst. In 
all the settlements in Liberia good water can be procured without 
much difficulty. I candidly believe that a man may acquire more 
wealth in Liberia, by judicious management in the cultivation of the 
soil, than he could acquire in any part of the United States with 
double the quantity of land, double the amount of labor, and in 
double the length of time, even allowing for all the disadvantages 
under which he may have to labor in Liberia, and all the facilities 
which he might have in the United States. I am quite satisfied 
that every thing which is really necessary for human subsistence 
and comfort, together with many luxuries, can be raised in Liberia 
with much less labor than would be required to procure the neces- 
saries of life in the United States. 



208 OOMWBBOIAI ADVASTAGKS. 

20,000 coffee trees have been planted by a angle individual. 
The indigo plant is indigenous, and grows wild almost every 
where on the coast ; cotton is easily cultivated and the i 
are productive; the sugar-cane is found on many parts of the 
coast of Africa, and may be cultivated in Liberia; rice is 
easy of cultivation, and lias long been the principal article of 
food to the natives; bananas of an excellent and delicious 
kind, plantains, oranges, fine Savored and very large, and 
limes, are common; maize, or Indian corn, ripens in three 
months, and succeeds well; pineapples are very good and 
in great abundance; cocoanut trees flourish well; pump- 
kins, squashes or simelins, cucumbers, watermelons, and 
muskmelons, arrive at great perfection in that climate 
sada and yams are found in all parts of the coast, and are 
much used for food; palm oil is produced in abundance; 
tamarinds of various kinds; gum senega! and copal are arti- 
cle-, of export in vast quantities; pepper, and a variety of 
other spiees. including cayenne, ginger, cubebs, cardamum, 
nutmegs, and cinnamon, are common on the coasl ; several 
valuable dye woods are found, of which camwood and bar- 
wood are exported in considerable quantities; gold abounds 
in many parts of Africa, and the amount exported may be 
greatly increased : ivory is also a greal article of commerce, 
and timber of almost every quality. All these, and many 
other productions, are found in Africa, and are. or may he, 
sources of advantage and of profil to Liberia. A colonial 
agent speaks of seeing at one of the beautiful village 
the recaptured Africans, a trad of one hundred acres planted 
with cassada, interspersed with patches of Indian corn and 
sweel potal 

'Liberia, I should think, would enjoy very considerable 
commercial advanta 

1 Ye-. Henry, such is its position thai its commercial 
advantages are great It is the central point in a long 

ten ive relations of trade may 
tablished between it and a vast interior. New avenues 



ENTERPRISE OF THE PEOPLE. 209 

are continually opening with the interior tribes, and no one 
can calculate the importance which some parts of Liberia 
may be expected to assume at some future, and not far dis- 
tant day.' 

' Liberia is already engaged considerably in commerce, 
is it not, Sir V 

' Yes ; and, my son, it may be interesting to notice the 
progress which it is making in this department of wealth 
and prosperity. From January 7, 1826, to June 15, 1826, 
the nett profits on wood and ivory alone, passing through 
the hands of the settlers, was $30,786. Passing on to 
1829, we find the exports of African products to amount to 
$60,000. In 1831, 4G vessels, 21 of which were American, 
visited the colony, and the amount of exports was $88,911. 
During the year ending May 1, 1832, 59 vessels had visited 
the port of Monrovia, and the exports during the same 
period amounted to $125,549 16, whilst the imports 
amounted to $80,000. In two years, ending September 
1843, camwood, palm oil, and ivory, were exported to the 
amount of $123,690 00 ; and it increases its exports con- 
stantly in accelerated ratio. 

' A portion of the colonists are continually and actively 
engaged in trade, disposing to the natives, of English and 
Amei"ican, and other goods, and receiving in return dye- 
woods, ivory, hides, gold, palm oil, tortoise shell, rice, &c. 
which become articles of exportation and of great profit. 

' Hand in hand with the progress of civilization, will be 
the march of commerce. Even now, the harbor of Monro- 
via presents, at times, a most animating scene to the be- 
holder, of commercial activity and enterprise. You may 
see there often the harbor whitened with sails — they are 
anchoring and taking their departure, lading and unlading — 
warehouses are stored with rich cargoes — you hear the 
busy hum of industry — you see the alert movements of 
busy men, once, most of them, sluggard slaves ! Freedom 
has transformed them into another kind of men. 



210 PROSPERITY. 

' I ' ( • . I ,. and constant friend of 

the African race, as well as sincere patriot, who has achieved 
for himself imperishable honor by his indefatigable ami dis- 
interested efforts in the cause of this noble philanthropy', 
thus expres $es himself in an address before the Colonization 
\. at their fourteenth anniversary, which was as long 
1831 : - Only nine years have elapsed sini e the little 
band of colonists Ian. led at tin 1 cape, and a nation has 
[y sprang into i — a nation destined to secure 

thiopia the fulfilment of the glorious prophecy made in 
her behalf. Already have kings thrown down their crowns 
at the feet of the infant republic, and formed with her a holy 
alliance, for the holy purpose of exchanging the guilty 
traffic in human flesh and blood for legitimate commerce, 
equal laws, civilization and religion. 

' From many an ancient river, 
• From many a palmy plain, 

1 They call tis tn deliver 

' Their land from error'a chain.' 

They ask for schools, factories, churches. Nearly 2,000 
freemen have kindled a beacon fire at Monrovia, to cast a 
broad Maze of light into the dark recess* a of that benighted 
land ; and although much pains has hem taken to overrate 
the cost, and undervalue the results, yet the annals of coloni- 
zation may be triumphantly challenged for a parallel. Five. 
years of preliminary operations were requisite for surveying 
>ast, propitiating the natives, and selecting the most eli- 
gible site; numerous agents were subsequently employed, 
tihips chartered, the forest cleared; Bchool-houses, factories, 
hospitals, churches, government buildings, and dwellings 
erected, and the man) expenses requisite here defrayed ; and 
yet, for ever) $50 expended by our Society from its com- 
mencement, we have not only a settler to Bhow, but an 
ample and fertile territory in reserve, where our future emi- 
grants may sit under their own vines and fig-trees with none 



CLIMATE. 211 

to make them afraid. During the last year, an amount 
nearly equal to the united expenditures in effecting these 
objects, has been exported by the colonists ; and from Phila- 
delphia alone, 11 vessels have sailed, bearing to the land ot 
their forefathers a large number of slaves manumitted by 
the benevolence of their late owners." Much more may be 
said in reference to the greatness of the success of the colony 
at the present time.' 



(Dwyiraa&fnra ssni 



" The condition of Africa, just in proportion as she is improved, 
rvill reflect beneficial influences on our own country As Africa rises 
in the scale of improvement, and sends over the earth a respect for 
her name and her people, so shall we look with increasing interest 
and sympathy upon her degraded children that are cast on our 
shores. And just in proportion as she emerges from barbarism, and 
puts on the garments of civilization, will the attract our colored 
people to return to her, and dispel the dread which is now com- 
mon to them, of emigrating to a land of barbarism.'" — Gerrit Smith. 

'The unheal thiness of the climate, I suppose, is the 
greatest obstacle in the way of the prosperity of the co- 
lony at Liberia, is it not, Pa V said Caroline, on the conver- 
sation being resumed. 

' Liberia has the reputation among many of being un- 
healthy,' said Mr. L. ' If we should judge, however, only 
by the health of the natives on that part of the African coast, 
we should suppose it to be far otherwise. It is healthy to 
acclimated emigrants. When once acclimated, it is said 
by those who are competent to decide, and who could have 



212 INMATE. 

no inducement to make an erroneous report, that Africa 
proves a more genial climate to the men of color than any 
jiorti^n of the I nited States. They enjoy, in Liberia, even 
now, a greater immunity from sickness, and the proportion 
of deaths is less than in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or New. 
York.' 

'Have not a great proportion of those who have emi- 
grated died Boon after their arrival f 

'It was to be expected that during the early years of 
the colony many deaths would occur for want of suitable 
houses; on account of the fatigue and danger to which the 
colonists were necessarily exposed : and in consequence of 
the irregular mode of life at firsl almost unavoidable. 

• An unfortunate selection was made for the first emi- 
grants, which increased the mortality among them. They 
found it impossible to obtain at that time a more suitable 

place, and were com], died, by a variety of untoward cir- 

oumstances, to make a temporary establishment in the low, 
unhealthy island ofSherbro. While here detained, endea- 
voring to purchase land, they were attacked by fatal disease, 
which carried oil" the agenl of the Society ami twenty out 

of eighty emigrants, together with two agents sent out by 
the I nited States Government. The second expedition also 
suffered much by sickness and death. And deaths were 
also frequenl among the colonists on their first arrival, for 
Borne time. From 182*3 to 1832, however, five years, not 
one person in forty ofthose from the middle and southern 
States died in Liberia from the change of climate. Aid 

later experience has proved that no unusual danger is to 

he apprehended bj any who are Bober, and have no radi- 
cal defect of constitution. 

'There is to n ne consideration which amidst all 

that has Keen i, luraging in the earl) mortality of 

the African colony, has been comforting. It is this; whilst 
the mortality is to he attributed but partially to causes 
which cannot be controlled, the evil was limited to « single 



LIBERIA COMPARED WITH OTHER COLONIES. 213 

generation : but the good accomplished by colonization is to 
bless all succeeding generations. The natives of no country 
enjoy better health than those of Africa; and the children 
born to those who emigrate, will be Africans, and know 
nothing of the dangers which their forefathers may have 
encountered. 

' The settlement of new places is generally attended 
with trials by sickness. What is the fact in respect to the 
now flourishing state of Louisiana ? The colony of Ibber- 
ville was begun to be settled in 1690, and in the ensuing 
thirteen years 2,500 colonists were landed there, out of 
whom only 400 whites and 20 negroes remained at the end 
of that time; on the Island of Orleans, where a settlement 
was begun in 1717, the early settlers died by hundreds ; 
and both settlements were given up once or twice, by those 
who began them, and commenced anew by other hands. 
It was so with Jamestown, Virginia; it was so with Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts, although in a northern climate. 
These both were desolated by sickness, and the mortality 
was far greater than it has ever been in Liberia. Five 
hundred emigrants at one time landed in Jamestown, and 
in less than live months their numbers were reduced to 
sixty. Disaster and defeat seemed to embitter all the 
struggles of the Pilgrim fathers at Plymouth. More than 
half their number died the first winter. And yet from the 
two feeble settlements, at Plymouth and Jamestown, has 
sprung a population which, in spite of discouragements, 
have erected towns, cities, and an empire ! 

'It has been remarked in regard to these early trials of 
colonies, by the eloquent and excellent Frelinghuysen, that 
" such has been the course of divine Providence with all 
colonies, of which either sacred or profane history affords 
us any account, that He intended to cherish or establish. 
It is the moral and mental discipline which God would 
prescribe; it is the discipline, of all others, calculated to 
throw- the human mind upon its own resources — to try its 



214 «BA LKOXE. 

strength — to call Into action its powers, and, if there be 
energ) within or about it. it will be called Into action. It 

Its strength— its patience— its fortitude. La fact all the 
sterner virtues are created by this scheme of colonization. 
And it teaches, above all, other lessons, for man to Irani, 
bis deep dependence on Divine power. How was it with the 
Jews, who were a called and chosen people? \\ r ere they not 
subjected to trials and difficulties? How did God a 
ward them. After years of gloom yand grinding bonds 
Egypt, did he not Bend them to the land of promise .' He 
knew they were degraded and debased by moral and cor- 
poreal bondage. Arid indeed their debasement weclearly 
learn from their complaints. He put them to the trials 
which await colonization. He led them through the howling 
wilderness. He required them to endure fatigue— to meet 
the enemy's onslaught In the Divine wisdom and mercy 
they were subjected to these conflicts, dangers and terrors, 
both by night and I \xA when discipline had done 

ffice, and when libertj and the promised land were 
in view, (and even then, they enjoyed not a bed of down,) 

then they were to contend for ever) Inch of land they 
wen- about to acquire. " 

•In respect to Liberia, however, we are nol reduced to 
the necessity of reasoning from analogy; we have facts: 
tries may be established on the coast of Africa, for co- 
lonies have been established there, and are flourishing. Tho 
English colony at Sierra Leone, after manj sad reverses in 
its infancy, is now a thriving territory with 40,000 inhabi- 
tants. It was founded under the most unfavorable circum- 
stances, those wh<> first composed it. coming from a northern 
latitude, Nova Scotia, or the Btreets of London. Besides, 
had habits prevailed among them, and did more for their 

action than the climate. 

'This colon} has ever been cherished by Christians and 
philanthropists in England, and is still, as an institution, full 
of promise to Africa, and one thai has conferred signal bless- 



FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN OUU COUNTRY. 215 

ings on those who were once outcasts in Britain, although 
it has known no such prosperity as has attended the coloniz- 
ing of Liberia. The Liberian colonies are no longer an ex- 
periment ; their present condition is such that they speak 
for themselves, a disproval of all the predictions that 
doomed them to destruction, and all the calumnies that pro- 
nounced the enterprise a failure.' 

' There is great misapprehension in the public mind, I 
should think,' said C. ' in regard to difficulties generally at- 
tendant upon the beginning of new settlements ; and espe- 
cially in regard to the difficulties which, in its first beginning, 
the colony of Liberia was called to encounter, as contrasted 
with those of similar enterprises.' 

' There is,' said Mr. L. and yet, so far are the trials of 
Liberia from being greater than has been the visual lot of 
similar enterprises, that the contrast is surprisingly in its 
favor. In fact, comparing its success with some other es- 
tablishments, we may safely say that, after all that has been 
adverse, if a remarkable protection afforded the colony 
from enemies without, and exemption from the pestilence 
that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at 
noon-day, as well also from internal discord and convulsion, 
is any evidence of the favor of Providence, that colony 
surely enjoys the Divine favor. 

' I will advert again to the early history of other colonies, 
for the facts in the case, and the instruction and encourage- 
ment which they furnish, are greatly important. If we look 
to Virginia, the situation and prospects of the Virginia co- 
lony in 1610, the first settlement of which was attempted 
in 1585, and to which numerous reinforcements were, des- 
patched from time to time during a term of twenty-five 
years, are thus depicted by Dr. Holmes, in his American 
Annals: "Smith left the colony furnished with three ships, 
good fortifications, twenty-five pieces of cannon, arms, am- 
munition, apparel, commodities for trading, and tools for all 
kinds of labor. At Jamestown there were nearly sixty 



1210 inE jjutRiOAa colonies. 

-. The settlers bad begun to plant and to fortify at 
five or bu other places. The number of inhabitants was 
nearly five hundred. They had jw- 1 gathered in their Indian 
harve . had considerable provision in their 
i. They had between five and six hundred hogs, an 
equal number of fowls, some goats, and some sheep. They 
had also boats, nets, and g i accommodations for fishing. 

ich was the sedition, idleness, and dissipation of this 
mad people, that they were soon reduced to the most mise- 
rable circumstances. No sooner was Captain Smith gone, 
than the Bavages, provoked by their dissolute practices, and 
encouraged by their want of government, revolted, hunted 
them from place to place, and slew them. Nansemond, the 
plantation at the falls, and all the out-settlements, were 
abandoned. In a Bhort time nearly forty of the company 
w.rr cut oil' by the enemy. Their time and provisions 
were consumed in riot; their utensils were stolen or des- 
ti-"\ ed ; their hogs, sheep, and fowls killed and carried oil' by 
the Indians. Ti ■ without, and famine an I Bick 

within, booh made among them surprising destruction. 
Within th'' term of six months, of their whole number, 
500 persons, sixty only survived! These were mostly 
. famishing wreto sisting chiefly on herbs, acorns, 

and b Such was the famine, that they fed On the 

skins ot* their dead horses; nay, they boiled and eat the 
flesh of the dead. Indeed, they were reduced to such ex- 
tremity, that had they not been relieved, the whole colony, 

hi or ten days, would have been extinct Such are the 
dire effects of idleuess, faction, and want ot' proper subordi- 
nation." The English, in fact, made four attempts to colo> 
ni/.e Virginia before they succeeded. Once, after a year's 
trial, the whole surviving remnant of the colon) was trans- 

i back t.> England. 
•If we turn our mind to North Carolina, which was 
settled in 1668, we find that in 1694, "the li-^t ot' taxablea 
did ii"t exceed ' s 7, being little more than half the number 



SACRIFICE OF LIFE PREVENTED. 217 

that were there in 1677, seventeen years before. Such," 
Williamson continues, " were the baneful effects of rapine, 
anarchy, and idleness." 

' In the Plymouth colony, commenced in 1620, besides 
the mortality in which we have before adverted, that swept 
off half their number in the first six months, they were sub- 
ject to much inconvenience by reason of " false brethren," 
and were " often in great straits with the Indians." * A 
slight knowledge of the early history of the " Pilgrims " 
will suffice to show a strong contrast in favor of Liberia, so 
far as the early difficulties of founding the colony are re- 
garded. At Plymouth they received frequent reinforce- 
ments, and yet there remained but 300 colonists in the year 
1630. Two hundred persons, out of fifteen hundred that 
came with John Winthrop to Boston in 1630, died in six 
months ! A sensible writer has well said, " what incalcu- 
lable benefits had been lost to the world, had the first set- 
tlers of these United States retired faint and despairing 
from our shores at the first blow and shock of calamity ? 
God be praised for their firmness of heart !" 

' Another consideration has been one of interest to me, 
amidst all discouraging reports concerning the health of the 
first emigrants ; if colonies can be once planted along the 

* In Liberia, in no instance, have the natives, from whom the 
land was purchased, been required to remove their residences, or to 
abandon their usual customs, except that of trading in slaves, and 
the practice of such superstitious rites or ceremonies as tend to 
deprive any of their fellow beings of life. And in all the written 
contracts which have been entered into between the Agents of the 
Colonization Society and the native chiefs, the latter have invariably 
obligated themselves, in behalf of the people over whom they pre- 
side, to conform to the laws and regulations of the Liberia govern- 
ment. No lands have been wrested from them; no privileges 
denied them. I would that we could say as much in honor of the 
New-England Pilgrims ; and especially that history did not tell us 
of multitudes of poor Indians exiled to foreign lands and sold as. 
slaves ! ! ! 

10 I 



213 SACRIFICE OF LIFE PREVENTED. 

shores of Africa, and the slave-trade cut off, a vast sacrifice 
of life will thereby be prevented. In a single slave-ship, 
more persons haw perished, often in indescribable agony, 
than have died from the influence of climate since the 

origin of the oolonj of Liberia The slave-trade, it has 
been well remarked by Judge Story, of Massachusetts, « de- 
solates whole villages and provinces. The blood of thou- 
sands of the miserable children of Africa has stained her 
shores, or quenched the dying embers of her desolated 
towns to glut the appetite of slave-dealers. The ocean has 
received in its deep and silent bosom, thousands more, who 
perished from disease and want, during their passage from 
their native homes" to foreign climes* 

" An officer of the United States squadron on the coast of Africa, 
writes, in 1S.">1, to a friend id Boston : " I am aware that there are 

many persons in Hem-England who viciv the Colonization scheme as vision- 
ary if not in /net prejudicial to the interests of the slave and the cause of 

ktmanity, ami who consequently regard it, some with indifference, 
and others with inveterate hostility. 1 feel assured, that if such per- 
sons could but realize a tithe of the good which this noble but 

unpretending institution has accomplished and is accomplishing, 
their opposition would cease, and they must, from their hearts, wish 
the wink God-speed. I have oot the slightest doubt that, for every 
slave which abolitionism his rescued from bondage, Colonization hat 

prevented the enslavement of thousands. The vast importance of the 

Colonization agency in suppressing the slave-trade, is too manifest 
to doubt. Within the colonial jurisdiction, embracing an extent of 
three hundred miles of coast, no! a slave is exported, tin- preventive 
measures being the moral influence of the settlers, and their whole- 
some la\v9, with the casual visits of foreign vessels of war; while 
Upon the same extent of territory between Popo and Calabar, the 

annual shipments are believed to exceed fry thousand, and made, too, 
in the very teeth of full one half of the British African squadron, 
including several very fine steam-ships, concentrated in the Bights 
oi Benin and Biafra. In my own mind, the beet and only tare method 
of ni] • disgraceful traffic ie, by planting and Jvttering such 

establish men's at the American Colonies. 1 believe it is Capable ol de- 

tration, that since the formation of the American Colonization 
I its very limited instrumentalities 

in putting down tho slave-trade, have been greater thau those of the 



TO BK USEFUL 13 BLESSED. 219 

' It has been ascertained that an average of not less than 
100,000 per annum have been transported from Africa, and 
that half the number have ordinarily died within two years, 
either during the passage or seasoning. Fifty thousand 
deaths every year, occasioned by the slave-trade ! In the 
name of humanity and of our holy religion, then, we may 
ask every one to judge whether the glorious work of esta- 
blishing civilized and Christian colonies along the coast of 
Africa shall be abandoned, because some few suffer and die 
in efforts to redeem themselves, and save their dying fellow- 
men ? The amount of suffering prevented, and the lives 
saved by the American Colonization Society, is incalculable; 
vastly more than all the sacrifice of life, and all the suffer- 
ings or privations which will be ever endured, in accom- 
plishing the regeneration of that great continent, and the 
salvation of generation after generation of untold millions. 

' To be useful, is to be blessed. And our Saviour has 
said, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." They who 
laid the foundations of the colony at Liberia, will testify that 
they have already reaped a rich reward for all their toils. 
They will unitedly declare that the blessings now theirs, 
have a value far beyond the price they cost. When they 
look to the future — when they consider the privileges and 
blessings secured to their posterity, they feel that the worth 
of these is inestimable. And they who fell martyrs in 
sounding the trump of jubilee in the land of the oppressed — • 
in a land of comparative barbarism ; to call the nations 

British Government for the same purpose, with an expenditure of 
not less than a hundred millions sterling. From Cape Mount on the 
north, to Cavalry on the south — a part of the coast once, and recently, 
too, notorious only for the extent of this nefarious traffic — the soil is 
now unpolluted by the slave-dealer. Where once stood the barra- 
coon, to receive the coffles of slaves, now stands a temple dedicated 
to the living God ; and where once were heard only the lamenta- 
tions and wail of the victims of wrong and oppression, is now heard 
the voice of praise and thanksgiving, ascending to the common God 
and Father of all, from a free, independent, and happy people." 



220 A DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE. 

forth to the light and blessings of civilized life — in a land 
of blood and crime; to hold up before the people the sign 
of the cross, that purity and peace, the hope of immortal 
glory and everlasting songs of salvation, may supplant the 
dark influence of the destroyer of souls ; have fallen in a 
nolile attempt, and will be held in grateful remembrance by 
generations yet unborn. 

' A very sensible address is now before me, adopted " at 
a numerous meeting of the citizens of Monrovia," in Liberia, 
which .speaks well to the point. The meeting, it seems, was 
called, and held at the courthouse in Monrovia, In 1S-27, 
" for the purpose of considering the expediency of uniting 
in an address to the colored people of the United States." 
In the address they say, "We enjoy health, after a few 
months' residence in this country, as uniformly, and in as 
perfect a degree as we possessed that blessing in our native 
country. Death occasionally takes a victim from our num- 
ber, without any regard at ail to his residence in the country; 
but we never hoped by leaving America t<> escape the com- 
mon lot of mortals. Bu1 we do expect to live as long, and 
this life with as little sickness as yourselves. Nothing 
like an epidemic has ever appeared in the colony ; nor can 
wc learn from the natives, that the calamity of a sweeping 
sickness ever j I this part of the continent. The 

change from a temperate to a tropical country is a great 
one — too great not to affect the health more or less. In the 
early years of the colony, want of good houses, the great 
fatigues and dangers of tl tiers, their irregular mode of 

living, and the discouragements they met with, greatly 
helped the oth of sickness which prevailed to an 

alarming extent, and was attended with great mortality. 
But we look ba :k to those times as to a s sa on of trial long 
j t, and nearly forgotten." ' 

4 1 have no doubt,' said < iaroline, ' that after the first sea- 
son, Liberia is a delightful climate for the blacks. They 
OOnstituti ibly better adapted to that climate 

than to ours/ 



ADAPTED TO THE COLORED MAN. 221 

1 Yes, Caroline, the colored man, going to Africa, goes to 
the land of his fathers, for a residence in which nature has 
peculiarly fitted him. We should sicken and die where the 
native African, invigorated under the influence of a vertical 
sun, glories in its blaze, and grapples with the lion of the 
desert. Expose the African to the cold blasts of the north- 
ern clime, he shivers and drags out a miserable existence, 
while the white man can bare his bosom to the blast. " Na- 
ture," says Mr. Custis, " seems to draw a line of demarca- 
tion between the country of the white man and the black."* 
' It sometimes has been said that Europeans will, not- 
withstanding the planting of colonies along the coast, and 
after all that can be done for Africa, hold the mouths of the 
rivers emptying round the Cape of Western Africa ; and 

* There seems to be a peculiar fitness in placing the negro in 
Africa, when it is recollected that large portions of its immense 
tracts are suited only to his constitution. The white man will lan- 
guish and die beneath a sun which is congenial to the nature of the 
black man. Nature herself, therefore, would seem to concur with 
philanthropy, unless it be thought that she designed those regions, 
which are so well calculated for the residence of the latter, and for 
him only, to lie waste and uninhabited." — Tyson. 

" If we look to that well-marked and vast peninsula, we find 
that equally marked race, the negro, with slight modifications, form- 
ing its native population throughout all its regions. We find the 
temperature of his blood, the chemical action of his skin, the very 
texture of his wool hair, all fitting him for the vertical sun of Africa; 
and if every surviving African of the present day who is living in 
degradation and destitution in other lands, for which he never was 
intended, was actually restored to the peculiar land of Ins peculiar 
race, in independence and comfort, would any man venture to 
affirm, that Christianity has been lost sight of by all who had in any 
ways contributed to such a consummation? It matters not to bro- 
therly love on which side of the Atlantic the negro is made en- 
lightened, virtuous, and happy, if he is actually so fir blessed ; but 
it does matter on which side of the ocean you place him, when there 

is ONLY ONE WHERE HE WILL BE HAPPY AND RESPECTABLE as bene- 

volence would wish to see hiin, and certainly there, a rightly applied 
morality and religion would sanction his being placed." — Edinburgh 
Phrenological Journal. 



2\22 OOD DESIGNS IT FOR THE COLORED MAN. 

that the African will always, therefore, be measurably under 
th_. influence of a promiscuous white population. To me, 
however, it seems most obvious, that the elastic pressure of 
•red population in Africa will, and must ultimately eat 
dude all other people, God evidently designs Africa for the 
1 man. By law in Liberia now, no white person is 
allowed to become a citizen; consequently, white residents 
cannot hold any office in the Government This constitu- 
tional provision was hardly necessary, though it may be 
*ise. It is the land of the colored ; and we confidently say 
of Africa, 

" Despite of every yoke she bears, 
"That land of glory .still is theirs." 

The advantage in physical constitution which the blacks will 
enjoy, is one which will give them deeided superiority to all 
other people as occupants of the soil. The puny and sickly 
colonies of oth^r nations can never compete with them. The 
sceptre of influence will, without a doubt, be ultimately 

Wielded in Africa by those whom heaven has appointed to 

wield it. the blacks themselves; Africa will receive its cha- 
racter chiefly, I have no doubt, from emigrants going from 
our own shores. 

' We must now close the subject for the present. Each 
Of US, I trust, in conclusion, can say from the heart, of that 

vast, injured, benighted, but awaking continent, 

" Oh ! t" thy godlike destiny arise — 

" Awake, ami meet the purpose of the skies !" ' 



(DoiryisiRSAO'XDjj sxnnn. 

" The removal of our colored population is, I think, a common 
object, by no means confined to the slave States, although they are 
more immediately interested in it. The whole Union would be 
strengthened by it, and relieved from a danger whose extent can 
scarcely be estimated." — Marshall- , 

' You observed in your last conversation,' said Henry, 
• that agents of the Government of the United States went 
out with the first emigrants sent to Africa by the Coloniza- 
tion Society : why were agents sent by the United States V 

1 In the act of Congress for the suppression of the slave- 
trade, passed in the year 1807, there was a clause by which 
negroes brought into the United States, in consequence of 
the law authorizing the capture of vessels engaged in the 
slave-trade, were to be " subject to any regulations not con- 
travening the provisions of the act, which the legislatures of 
the several States and Territories might make for the dis- 
posing of such negroes." By an act of the Georgia legisla- 
ture, in 1817, captured negroes brought into Georgia in pur- 
suance of the aforesaid act of Congress, were to be sold, or 
delivered to the Colonization Society to be returned to Afri- 
ca. A slaver containing thirty-eight negroes was captured 
by one of the United States vessels, and brought into Geor- 
gia. The negi'oes were, according to law, advertised for 
sale. The Colonization Society, availing itself of the pro- 
visions of the law above referred to, applied for the slaves 
to be returned to Africa, paid, as was necessary, the expen- 
ses incurred on their account, and rescued the victims of 
piratical cupidity from perpetual slavery. Cases of this kind 
having previously occurred, had directed the attention of 
Congress to the necessity of providing somewhere an asy- 
lum for recaptured negroes, and a law had been enacted 



224 Asn.Mi.N3 Dsroxca of the coLonr. 

authorizing the President to make such regulation and ar- 
rangements as be iuL r !it deem expedient for their safe-keep 
ipport, and removal beyond the limits of the United 
. to appoint a proper person or persons resid- 
ing on the coast of Africa, us agent or agents, in the fulfil- 
ment of such arrangements in respect to all negroes seized 
ited States' vessels. It was thought that the ends of 
this act could be better accomplished by the aid of the Colo- 
nization Society ; and accordingly, the first expedition to 
Liberia in 1820, was, by the Colonization Society and the 
United States Government, in conjunction. The Elizabeth 
was chartered, and took to the coast two Government 
agents, one Colonial agent, and about eighty emigrants, tho 
latter of whom were to be employed at the expense of the 
Government in preparing accommodations for the reception 
of the recaptured negroes.' 

'This expedition, Sir, you remarked, were very unfor- 
tunate in their location, which you said was on the river 
Sherbro : was that in what was afterwards called Liberia 1' 
' No, Henry ; it was 200 miles north of Liberia's former 
limits, and luo miles south of Sierra Leone. It was not 
until L822 that B permanent location was obtained at Capo 
Mesurado.' 

'The colony had much difficulty with the natives at its 
commencement, had it i: 

'They had; and perhaps it has been correctly said that 
it or modern times surpasses the de- 
li that little band of colonists made. The lament- 
ed Ashmun, forced in opposition to all his habits and feel- 
to become a warlike commander, acquitted himself in 
a manner that discovered military skill of the highest order. 
Without ever aspiring to military renown, he shone forth, a 

hero in arms, whose > Iness, firmness, wisdom and courage 

I hardly be surpassed. The little band of thirty-five 

Alii -an emigrants, about one half of whom only were cu- 

I in action, were threatened by a host whose numbers 



ashmun's death. 225 

were untold, and destruction seemed inevitable. The slave- 
dealers on the coast had instigated the natives to extermi- 
nate the colony. Ashmun was himself sick of fever ; and 
was, besides, in great affliction, having just buried his wife, 
an amiable and heroic woman, who insisted on sharing her 
husband's toils and dangers in Africa; but, notwithstanding, 
he rose from the bed of sickness, and day by day after toss- 
ing with the delirium of a burning fever through the night, 
spent his time in directing his little band in constructing 
their hasty and imperfect defences, and teaching them to 
manage their artillery, and how to succor each other in their 
defence. The result was, the enemy was successfully re- 
pulsed, and the colony was saved from destruction ; whilst 
such an impression was made on the natives as put to rest, 
probably, for ever, any thought of a similar attempt.' 

' I suppose,' said Henry, ' it is in reference to this ex- 
ploit particularly, that Ashmun is sometimes called the 
founder of the colony of Liberia 1 Mr. Ashmun died at 
New Haven — I have seen his monument — he died soon after 
arriving there from Liberia for his health. But, foiling a vic- 
tim to his devotion to the cause of colonization, I am sure 
that he nobly died, in a noble cause.' 

' Yes : Mr. Ashmun's great and untiring efforts continu- 
ing through nearly six years of constant anxiety and labor 
in Africa, destroyed his physical constitution and brought 
him to a premature grave ; but he fell nobly. Mr. Ashmun's 
life, so far at least as is connected with Africa, in which we 
are now more particularly interested, you will find full of 
interest.' 

' Where was Mr. Ashmun from, Pa, and how came he 
to embark in the colonization cause, as an agent to Africa'?' 

' Mr. A. whose Christian name was Jehudi, was born in 
Champlain, New-York, in 1794. I will relate, if you pleases 
some of the leading incidents of his history, as they occur on 
recollection. In his childhood Mr. A. was thoughtful and 
reserved, remarkably fond of books, and ambitious of lite- • 



226 ASIIMUN DIES PRAYING FOR AFRICA. 

rary distinction. In his studies he made rapid progress. 
He became a devoted Christian in the morning of his days. 
He graduated at Burlington College, and soon after entering 
the ministry was elected Professor in the Theological Semi- 
nary at Bangor. After leaving that Seminary he became a 
member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He prepared 
the Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel Bacon, the earliest martyr 
in the cause of colonization ; and, after other efforts to ad- 
vance the cause, by which his feelings were more and more 
deeply interested, he embarked for Africa in 1822. In A£ 
rica he found himself unexpectedly in a situation where he 
must be of necessity legislator, engineer, soldier, physician ; 
almost every thing that was needed, his benevolent heart 
inclined, and his superior talents enabled him to be. Em* 
phatically a good man, he enjoyed the confidence of the co- 
lonists, and of the Hoard, and shared in the warmest affec- 
tions of all that knew him. 

'The scene, at his death, is represented as one of true 
moral sublimity, lie died, as you have said, at New 11a- 
veii. a few days after his return from Africa, whose shores 
he had left with feeble health, hoping to find the \o\ageand 
a short residence in his native country conducive to its res- 
toration. It was otherwise ordered. His last moments 

w.re spent in fervent prayer. Africa was not forgotten. 
" Ileus the colony? was his cry, u and that ])oor people 
among "■In/,,/ I have labored." 

' lie has left a name to be remembered by generations 
to conv, when many who may now he far more conspicu- 
ous will he forgotten. The gratitude of the Colonization 
Society* directed the monument to his memory which you 

• A momunenl bat also been raised to his memory in Liberia. 

Tin- monument at New Haven i* after the model of an ancient mo- 
nument still in perfection at Borne, " the tomb of Bcipio." Dr. Silli- 
man describe* i< as " grave, grand, simple, and beautiful." It is 
constructed of the Connecticut red tand stone, of the finer variety, 
•tvea feet tang, faff high, thrco and a half wide, raised on a foun- 



ASHMUN. 227 

saw at New Haven, but his best monument is in the hearts 
of the people, and that record of him which is on high. 

" Although no sculptured form should deck the place, 
" Or marble monument those ashes grace, 
" Still, for the deeds of worth, which he has done, 
" Would flowers unfading flourish o'er his tomb." ' 

1 A favorite poetess has embalmed his memory,' said 
Caroline : ' shall I repeat her words V 

" Whose is yon sable bier ? 

Why move the throng so slow ? 
Why doth that lonely mother's tear, 

In sudden anguish flow ? 
Why is that sleeper laid 

To rest, in manhood's pride ? 
How gain'd his cheek such pallid shade ? 

I spake — but none replied. 

" The hoarse wave murmured low, 

The distant surges roar'd — 
And o'er the sea, in tones of wo, 

A deep response was poured. 
I heard sad Afric mourn 

Upon her billowy strand ; 
A shield was from her bosom torn, 

An anchor from her hand. 

" Ah ! well I know thee now, 

Though foreign suns would traco 
Deep lines of death upon thy brow — 
Thou friend of miseiy's race; 

dation of one foot. It is said above, that the gratitude of the Colo- 
nization Society directed this monument ; but it is believed and 
should be stated that the whole expense was borne by the spontane- 
ous contributions and united liberality of friends of humanity and 
religion, preventing the necessity of making any appropriation to- 
wards it from the funds of the Society, and at the same time furnish- 
ing a most honorable attestation of the gratitude and respect with 
which his devotion to the best interest of the world is regarded, and 
of the sincere affection with which his memory is cherished by those 
' who have learned to love and to admire the sublimity and glory of 
virtue." 



223 BA.S8A COVK. 

Their lcaik-r, when tho blast 

Of rathlea war swept by ; 
Tli<ir teacher, when the storm waa pa*<, 

Their guide to worlds on high. 

" Hut o'er the lowly tomb, 

Where thy soul's idol lay, 
I saw thee rise above the gloom, 

And hold thy changeless way. 
Stern sickness woke a flame, 

That on thy vigor fed — 
Cut deathless courage ncrv'd the frame, 

When health and strength had fleiL 

" Spirit of power — pass on ! 

Thy homeward wing is free ; 
Earth may not claim thee for her son — 

She hath no chain for the* : 
Toil might not bow thee down, 

Nor sorrow check thy race — 
Nor pleasure win thy birthright crown, — 

Co to thy honor'd place !" 

'If I recollect.' Bald Caroline, 'the colony has since had 
to encounter difficulties similar to those in which Mr. Ash- 
man distinguished himself?' 

'Yes, in one instance only were they serious. In Decem- 
ber 1834 the Young Man's Colonization Society of Penn- 
sylvania landed the first colonists sent out by them at Bas- 
se. Cove; the purchase of territory from the natives had 
completed a few days before; and it was the very Bpot 
where a slave-factory had stood, and from whence no less 
than five hundred victims had been shipped during ono 
month preceding. The number of emigrants was 126. 
Such was the zeal and energy of these colonists, that by 
the first day of January next succeeding, a plot of ground 
had been cleared and a house erected for the ageno) family, 
and within six months the whole colony were comfortably 
located, eighteen houses having hem erected by them for 
their own accommodation ; " the lots around them present- 



BASSA COVE. 229 

ing a bright prospect of luxuriant crops of various kinds ;" 
and ten additional houses to receive the emigrants expect- 
ed by a second expedition. Besides these, the agents had 
caused to be "prepared a large and substantial Govern- 
ment-house, 20 feet by 50, and two stories high, with a 
well stocked garden of two acres, substantially enclosed, 
and had cleared upwards of forty acres of land ; he had 
also a smith-shop, with a pit of coal, nearly ready for ope- 
ration ; a kiln of lime burned, and six head of cattle pro- 
cured and partially broken to the yoke." An extensive 
and kindly intercourse was opened with surrounding tribes ; 
and promises obtained even from the more distant, of the 
extirpation of the traffic in human flesh and blood. The 
location "was admirably adapted, commanding the mouth 
of the St. John's River, and the only harbor occurring for 
many miles round, to repress that nefarious traffic along a 
considerable portion of coast." 

'This colony, so favorably commenced, was destined 
to meet with a sudden and very grievous discouragement 
and suspension. A slaver arriving in the vicinity, operated 
upon the cupidity of one of the chieftains in the neighbor- 
hood, and by the guilty use of ardent spirits, urged him to 
an attack upon the unsuspecting colony. Three men, four 
women, and thirteen children, were massacred in one night, 
and the remainder were obliged to take refuge at Mon- 
rovia.' 

' It should here be remarked that the principles on 
which the Pennsylvania Society based their action was " 1. 
Entire temperance in every colonist: 2. Total abstinence 
from trade in ardent spirits and arts of war : 3. An imme- 
diate Christian influence and operation upon surrounding 
heathen : All designed to accomplish the second article of 
(its) constitution, ' to provide fur civilizing and christianiz- 
ing Africa, through the direct instrumentality of colored 
emigrants from the United States.' 

' Might not this dreadful catastrophe have been avoided 



230 BASSA COVE. 

if the colony had been prepared with fire-anna and other 
instruments of defence .'" 

'It probably might It is believed by those who have 
knowledge of the character of the surrounding tribes, that 
the v< -r\ fact of ilk- colonists being possessed of the means 
< f defence, operates in accordance with the spirit and lan- 
guage of the constitution of the Society, as "a dissuasion 
from warfare." it was not be expected that the slavers 

would regard any attempts to plant colonies on the coast, 
with other feeling than hostility; for the slave-trade cannot 
long survive amid salutary influences of the civilized and 
Christian colonics on the surrounding pagan darkness. The 
chief who was engaged in the attack upon the colony, after- 
wards expressed contrition for his conduct, and gave solemn 
assurances of a desire for peace; and the colony, which 
was at once amply furnished with the means of defence, but 
instructed tocarrj out the original design of the enterprise 
ly prosecuting the humane and benevolent purposes origi- 
nally contemplated, "in a spirit of affectionate regard for 
the best interest of the natives,' 1 using "every effort for 
the preservation of the most friendly relations with them.'' 
They have never since been molested; and the colonies 
now have nothing to tear. The slavers must retire before 
the light of civilization and the influence of agriculture 
and commerce.' 

■ Mr. Buchanan, late governor of the colony, in a letter 
to the corresponding secretary of the Pennsylvania Society, 
has said, '• Von may congratulate yourself on your atead* 
fast affection for Bassa Cove, for indeed it ia a paradise. 
The climate is absolutely good — the soil prolific and various 
in its productions — the rivers abound in excellent fish and 
very Buperior oysters, and the water is pure and wholesome. 
Our position is somewhat remarkable, having a river in 
our rear, the ocean in front, and the magnificent St. John's 
sweeping past on our right. The Luxuriant and various 

foliage which overhangs the banks of the river, and recedes 



EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 231 

back into the interminable forests, gives a perpetual fresh- 
ness to the scene which ever animates and gladdens the be- 
holder. In America it is difficult to conceive of African 
scenery without picturing to our imagination a plentiful 
supply of burning sand, with here and there a fiery serpent ; 
but what a pleasing reversion the feelings undergo when for 
the first time we witness the reality; then the arid scene 
with its odious accompaniments is exchanged for the broad 
river of blue waters, the stately forest, and the ever- ver- 
dant landscape, and all nature charms with her ever-vary- 
ing, yet ever-beautiful and living riches." ' 



(D(DOTIS!EaMII(M SXW. 



" We must plead the cause of Africa ou her own shores. We 
must enlighten the Africans themselves on the nature of this evil. 
We must raise in their minds a fixed abhorrence of its enormities. 
There will be no ships with human cargoes if we cut off the supply. 
We must by our settlements point the African kidnapper to a more 
•profitable commerce than that in the blood and heart-strings of his 
fellow-men." — Frdinghuysen. 

' We would like to know this evening, Pa, something 
more of Liberia. 

' Do the colonists pay proper attention to education, 
and have they any considerable literary advantages V 

'The subject of education was ever of primary impor- 
tance with the Board of Colonization, and the interests of 
literature were promoted as far as circumstances would 
permit. In 1830 the Board established permanent schools 
in the towns of Monrovia, Caldwell, and Millsburgh. They 
adopted a thorough system of instruction, which is now in 



232 TESTIMONY OF DR. SHAKE, 

mil operation. It is said that there is not a child or 
youth in the colony but i- provided with on appropriate 
school. Some of these schools have valuable libraries. 
There is a public library al Monrovia which contains 
between 1300 and 2000 volumes. The press is in opera- 
tion there, and it is interesting to look over the " Liberia 
Herald," and see its discussions of important subjects, as 
well as the various advertisements, notices of auctions, 
parades, marriages, &c. together with its marine list, and 
items of news, as if the print were issued from the midst 
of an old and long established community.** 

' I do not see but they have in Liberia the elements of 
wealth and greatness. They are beginning to be a com- 
mercial community ; and with an agricultural interior in 
prospect, and they a civilized and Christian people, what is 
there to prevent their ultimate prosperity .'" 

•ITieirprosp igl ,H nry, very bright. Their 

progress, hitherto, has certainly been rapid and truly 
wonderful. Dr. S , of Cincinnati, went with a company 

igrantsto Liberia in 1832, sailing from NewOrleansj 
and, among other thing-, writes, " I Bee uot in Liberia as 
and Bplendid man-ions as in the United Stat,'- ; nor as 
extensive and richly stocked farm; as the well tilled lands 
of < >hio; b il 1 Bee a fine and wry fertile country, inviting 
its poor and oppre to thrust in their Bickles and 

gather up its fullness. 1 here ■■• many who left the 

• There has been laid the fcrandatiou of u noble academy al Mon- 
rovia, under the auspicei ofthe Method pal Church, which 
will ;.'.> into operation the present year, 1852. The Alexander High 
I, which, with suitable classical and philosophical apparatus, 
mid an iron building, went into operation last year, is now prospe- 
rouslv i mployed, \\ ith a large catalogue of scholars, nndcr the charge 
. B. V. Et. .1 lines, who has l>< en usefully employed a- b teacher 
m Africa thirteen \ ears. 'Jims i> God raising up the educational in- 
fluences wbicb will aid in perfecting the institutions of the Republic, 
and affording to the emigrant from the United States even better 
means than be can enjoy in our own land. 



TESTIMONY OF OTHERS. 233 

United States in straightened circumstances, living with all 
the comforts of life around them: enjoying a respectable 
and useful station in society, and wondering that their 
brethren in the United States, who have it in their power, 
do not dec to this asylum of happiness and liberty, where 
they can enjoy all the unalienable rights of man. I do not 
think an unprejudiced person can visit here without becom- 
ing an ardent and sincere friend of colonization. I can 
attribute the apathy and indifference on which it is looked 
by many, as arising from ignorance on the subject alone, 
and would that every free colored man in the United States 
could get a glimpse of his brethren, their situation and 
prospects. Let but the colored man come and see for him- 
self, and the tear of gratitude will beam in his eye, as he 
looks forward to the not far distant day when Liberia shall 
take her stand among the nations of the world, and pro- 
claim abroad an empire founded by benevolence, offering a 
home to the poor, oppressed, and weary. Nothing but a 
want of knowledge of Liberia prevents thousands of honest, 
industrious free blacks from rushing to this heaven-blessed 
land, where liberty and religion, with all their blessings, 
are enjoyed." ' 

' Are the colonists generally contented and happy in 
their situation V 

' Captain Kennedy, who visited Liberia in 1S31, says, 
" with impressions unfavorable to the scheme, of the Colo- 
nization Society, I commenced my inquiries." The colo- 
nists " considered that they had started into a new existence. 
They felt themselves proud in their attitude.'''' He further 
says, " many of the settlers appear to be rapidly acquiring 
property ; and I have no doubt they are doing better for 
themselves and for their children, in Liberia, than they 
could do in any other part of the world." Captain Nichol- 
son, of the United States' Navy, gave as favorable a report. 
Captain Abels says, " My expectations were more than 
realized. I saw no intemperance, nor did 1 hear a profane 



234 TESTIMONY IN KAVOH OF LIBERIA. 

uc.nl uttered by any one. I know of no place where the 
Sabbath Beema to be more respected than in Monrovia.*' 

• A distinguished British naval officer, who passed three 
years on the African coast, published a favorable notice of 
the colony in the Amulet i'<>r 1832, in which he bears this 
testimony: — "The complete success of this colony is a 
proof that the negroes are, by proper care and attention, 
as Busceptible of the habits of industry, and the improve- 
ments of social life, as any other race of human beings; 
and that the amelioration of the condition of the black peo- 
ple on the coast of Africa, by means of such colonies, is 
not chimerical. Wherever the influence of the colony ex- 
tends, the slave-trade has been abandoned by the natives, 
and the peaceable pursuits of legitimate commerce estab- 
lished in its place. They not only live on terms of har- 
mony and good will together, but the colonists arc looked 
upon with a certain degree of respect by those of their own 
color; and the force of their example is likely to have a 
strung effect in inducing the people about them to adopt 
it A ; .'. i Lonies of this kind, scattered along the coast, 
would be of infinite value in improving the oath 

'Governor Mechlin said, "As to the morals of the co- 
lonists; I consider them much better than those of the peo- 
ple of the United State; you may take an equal number of 
the inhabitants from any section of the Union, and you will 
find more drunkenness, more profane Bwearers and Sab- 
bath-breakers, than in Liberia. You rarely hear an oath, 
and a> to riots and breaches of the peace, 1 recollect but 
one instance, and that of a trifling nature, that has come 
under my notice since 1 assumed the government of the 
colony." Captain Sherman has said. " There is a greater 
proportion of moral and religious characters in -Monrovia 
than in the city of Philadelphia." 

'The Rev. Beverlj R. Wilson, an intelligent colored 
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, spent fourteen 
months in Liberia, which he visited at bis own expense, to 



TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF LIBERIA. 235 

ascertain whether he could find there an advantageous home 
for himself and family. His statements are received by all 
■who know him, as entitled from his character to entire con- 
fidence. On his return in 1835, he says, " Liberia for eli- 
gibility of situation is not often excelled, and the facilities 
held out for a comfortable living, rarely equalled ; industry 
and economy are sure to be rewarded and crowned with a 
generous competency, for proof of which I cite you to a 
Williams, to a Roberts, to a Barbour. The successful pro- 
secution of any enterprise in Africa, (as in America.) de- 
pends to a very great extent upon the amount of capital 
invested — money is power every where, but particularly 
so in Africa ; and he who emigrates thither with capital, 
possesses decided and very great advantages over every 
other class of emigrants ; a small capital I esteem of para- 
mount importance, and would by all means persuade my 
colored friends, who intend to emigrate, to provide them- 
selves with the means to commence business previous to 
going. This I esteem of vital importance, and ought not 
to be neglected. The soil of Africa is exceedingly fertile, 
and will produce as much to the acre as the famous lands 
of the great valley of the Mississippi. Fruits of several kinds 
are abundant, and from experiments made, most of the 
tropical fruits succeed as well as in their native clime. 
But little attention thus far has been paid to agriculture, 
owing to the fact that but few emigrants possess the means 
to embark in it. The cultivation of the land is attended 
with the same expense there as here, and the same obsta- 
cles present themselves to persons destitute of money. 
Timber of various descriptions abounds, some of which 
would not for beauty and durability lose by a comparison 
with the mahogany of St. Domingo, or of any other country. 
I have seen articles of cabinet ware manufactured in Mon- 
rovia that would grace our most fashionable houses, and 
would vie for beauty and taste with most of the same 
articles made in this country. As it regards the health of 



230 TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF LIBERIA. 

the colony, I consider it as good as that <>f most of the 
Southern States. The Aborigines live to an advanced period, 
ami are unquestionably the mo3t athletic, hardy race of 
men that 1 have everseen. They are remarkably shrewd and 

cunning, and are very far from being those " dolts " or 
t: idiots" which they have been represented to be; many 
of them read and write, and are very frequently an over- 
match for the colonists in trade. * * The murals of the 
colonists 1 regard as superior to the same population in 
almost any part of the United Stato A drunkard is a 
rare spectacle, and when exhibited is put under the ban 
of public opinion at once. To the praise of Liberia, be 
it spoken. 1 (.lid not hear during my residence in it, a soli- 

oath uttered by a settler; this abominable practice 
has not yet stained its moral character and reputation, 
and heaven grant that it never may. In such detesta- 
tion is the daily use of anient spirits held, that two of the 
towns have already prohibited i; i Bale, or rather confined 
; ;e to the apothecaries 1 shops. In Monrovia it is 
still viewed as an article of traffic and merchandise, but 
it is (1. •-lined there to share the same fate. The Tempe- 
rance Society is in full operation, and will ere long root 
it out. The Sabbath is rigidly observed and respected, 
and but few cases occur of disorder, and they are con- 
fined to the baser sorts. ;l few of which infest Liberia, 
ion and all its institutions are greatly respected; 
in fad a decided majority are Religionists, and by their 

j demeanor are exerting a very salutary influence, 
not only upon the emigrants but also upon the natives, 
anion- whom a door has been opened for the propagation 
of I hrislianity."* 

" Mr. Wilson, addressing himself t" tin- colored people in this 
country, concludes by savin:.'. " It yen desire liberty, surely Li- 
beria holds dat great and distinguished inducements. Hero yoa 
can never i»- toe; leu there, living under the administration 
of ibe laws enacted by yourselves, yoa may enjoy that freedom 



TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF LIBERIA. 237 

' Dr. Skinner, formerly Governor of Liberia, who re- 
turned to this country, November, 1836, in his report to the 
Board of Managers of the American Colonization Society, 
says, " The industry of the colonists is evidently on the in- 
crease, and their attention has of late been especially turned 
towards agriculture. Several of the colonists have, during 
the past season, raised corn and rice in considerable quanti- 
ties, and some are beginning to cultivate the cotton plant 
and sugar cane, while others are preparing extensive coffee 
plantations." Dr. S. says further, " The mortality has been 
less than it has been generally estimated, and greatly less 
than took place in the colonization of this country." Dr. S. 
says, that he " laid out one hundred and sixteen farms for 
the New Georgians," whilst he was with the colony, and 
further, " I visited New Georgia a few days before I left 
the colony, and was pleased to see the increased energy with 
which they had cultivated their lands, and the luxuriant 
crops of corn, cassada, rice and potatoes, with which their 
ground was covered, which but a few months before was 
impassable to man. The sight was an ample compensation 
for all my toils, and all my sufferings. It is believed, by 
those who are well able to judge, that these industrious citi- 
zens, in the past season, have raised four times the crops 
that they have obtained in any previous year." 

' Mr. Buchanan, Governor of the Colony at Bassa Cove, 
represented the colonists as prosperous, contented, and hap- 
py. Although all express the warmest affection for Ameri- 

which in tho very nature of things you cannot experience in this 
country. 

Liberia, happy laud! thy shore 

Entices with a thousand charms ; 
And calls — his wonted thraldom o'er — 

Her ancient exile to her arms. 

Come hither, con of Afrie, come, 

And o'er the wide and weltering sea. 
Behold thy lost yet lovely home, 

That fondly waits to welcome thee. 



238 TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OK LIBERIA. 

ca; if you were to ask them whether they do not wish to 
return, they would laugh at yuii* He "attended their 
courts, and was gratified to observe the perfect good order 
and decorum with which their proceedings were conducted. 

• To show the feeling in Liberia nearly eighteen years ago, we 
may mention that a meeting of the citizens of Monrovia, Resolved, 
That this meeting entertain the warmest gratitude for what the Co- 
lonization Society have done for the people of color, and for us par- 
ticularly, and that we regard the scheme as entitled to the hi 
confidence of every man of color. Also, whereas, it has been wide- 
ly ami maliciously circulated, in the United States of America, that 
the inhabitants of this colony are unhappy in their situation, and 
anxious to return : Resolved, that the report is false and malicious, 
and originated only in a design to injure the colony, by calling off 
the support and sympathy of its friends : that, so far from a desire to 
return, we would regard such an event as the greatest calamity that 
could befall its. 

Among the sentiments expressed by different individuals at this 
imiiiug. were the following, as reported in the Liberia Herald: 

Mr. David White, who arrived in Africa, May 24, 1828, said, 
"Never have 1 seen the moment in which I repined at coming to 
the colony. My object in coming was liberty, for which I son wil- 
ling to endure greater hardships than those 1 have already encoun- 
tered. And under the linn conviction that Africa is the only place, 
under existing circumstances, where the man of color can enjoy the 
inestimable blessings of lib rty and equality. I feel grateful beyond 
lion to the American Colonisation Society for preparing this 
peaceful asylum." 

Mr. George Baxter remarked, " I beg the liberty on this occa- 
sion, to express my deep gratitude to the American Colonization 
. for tin' 1 great deliverance effected by them of myself and fa- 
mily. I thank God that he ever put it in their hearts to seek nut 
this free soil. 1 and my family were burn in Charleston, South Ca- 
rolina, under the appellation of free people; but freedom we i 
knew until, by the benevolence of the Colonization Society, we 
were conveyed to the shores of Africa." 

Mr. EL, Matthews, who arrived in Liberia in the year 1832, said, 
'• Mv place of residence was the city of Washington, I>. C. where I 
l for a freeman. Bui I can now say, I was never free until I 
landed on tin' shores of Afi ii 

Mr. David Logan, said, u My situation is greatly altered for the 
better, by coming to Africa. My object was liberty and equality ; 



TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF LIBERIA. 239 

The dignity and good sense of the judges, the shrewdness 
and legal acumen of the counsel, the patient attention of the 
jury — all, of course, colored men." As to the climate, Mr. 
Buchanan says, " it is entirely a mistake to suppose that it 
is destructive of health." He " went there with his mind 
filled with the graphic pictures, drawn by the prolific pencil 
of the poet, of burning sands, mephitic marshes and scorch- 
ing winds ; but saw nor felt neither." He " was struck with 
the beautiful luxuriance of the soil. And as to the heat, the 
result of the regular thermometrical observations taken at 
Bassa Cove, was, that in the hot season the mercury ranged 
between eighty and eighty-eight degrees Fahrenheit, and hi 

under a conviction, founded on experience, that the colored man can- 
not enjoy them in the United States. I have been in this colony 
about ten years, and when I arrived here was without a dollar ; yet, 
as poor as the country is said to be, I find the industrious can make 
a comfortable living. My political knowledge is far superior to what 
it would have been had I remained in America a thousand years." 

Mr. James R. Cheesman observed, " Mr. Chairman, I cannot on 
this occasion suppress my feelings. Animated by the past, and en- 
couraged by the bright prospects which lie before us, let us proceed 
undauntedly in our noble career. Let us appeal to the pious, the 
libera], and the wise: let us bear in mind ihe condition of our fa- 
thers. When assembled on the shores of America they embarked 
amid the scoffs and false predictions of the assembled multitude — 
and succeeded, in spite of all the perils of the ocean and dangers of 
the forest, in laying the foundation of this infant republic." 

One other resolution of the above meeting was, on motion of the 
very respectable and talented editor of the Herald, Mr. Hilary 
Teage, also a colcced man: " Resolved, That this meeting view with 
regret the degree to which the anti-colonizationists of America car- 
ry their opposition. That they regard the opposition of the anti-co- 
lonizationists as detrimental to the true interest of the colored peo- 
ple generally. That their unmeasured abuse of the colonization 
scheme is unholy and unjust. That the degree to which they uni- 
formly slander and misrepresent this colony, goes a great way to 
discredit their profession of disinterested benevolence; and we be- 
seech them by all that we suffered in America — by all that we have 
suffered here — by all the bright prospects before us, and by a regard 
to their own character, to scandalize and vilify us no more." 



240 RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. 

the cold or wet season it seldom falls lower than seventy. 
There is besides a continual and refreshing breeze from the 
sea, during the day, and from the land during the night." 
During his residence at Bassa Cove "not a single death had 
occurred in the colony, which consists of about two hundred 
persons. The colonists, throughout Liberia, arc generally 
moral and temperate, and a large number of them, one-third 
of the emigrant population, are professing Christiana At 
Bassa Cove the introduction of ardent spirits is prohibited. 
The occupations of the people arc mechanical, mercantile, 
and agricultural. In the old colonies many of the citizens 
haw become wealthy. Such is the respect with which the 
native blacks regard the colonists, that many of them of high 
rank in their tribes have considered it a great favor to be 
permitted to put their sons in the families of the ' America 
men,' as servants, for the purpose of learning their language 
and manners. These on their return to their homes act as 
so many missionaries of civilization — rough and uncouth, 
indeed, but sufficiently improved to make their savage asso- 
ciates conscious of their own inferiority, and to increase 
their respect for the colonists."' 

' You have intimated that there have been some ac- 
counts of a contrary character'?' 

'There hive been some few instances of dissatisfied emi- 
grant*, who have made, in some respects, a different report; 
but it has been confidently believed that they were prompt- 
ed by feelings growing out of the peculiar circumstances in 
their individual cai ■. Th y were certainly not of such a 
characti r as to invalidate, or discredit the testimony of the 
many judicious, impartial, and highly respectable persons 
who have borne opposite testimony.' 

1 1 Bhould think, Sir, from what you have told us of the 
number of me churches in Liberia, that the religious privL 
bs of th ■ i -'.' dj are great I' 

'Much is done to promote the cause of religion in tho 
colony, and this has always been an object of solicitude on 



RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. 241 

the part of the Colonization Society. The churches in Libe- 
ria are generally well supplied with respectable and faithful 
ministers. In all these churches there are Sunday schools 
established, to which the most promising young people in 
the colony have attached themselves either as teachers or 
as scholars. The Sunday schools are also furnished with 
libraries. 

' I have in the pamphlet before me, which was printed 
in Monrovia, the " minutes of the first Convention of the 
Liberia Baptist Association," by which it appears that 
there were then in the colony of Liberia six Baptist 
churches, comprising about 220 members, located in the 
different settlements. These minutes represent the Bap- 
tist churches as in a flourishing condition ; and the pro- 
ceedings of the convention and their circular to the 
churches, evince talent, judgment, and piety, of a very res- 
pectable order. I will give you one extract from these 
minutes : " Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia 
shall soon stretch out her hands unto God, is the predic- 
tion of a holy prophet, uttered ages antecedent to the ad- 
vent of the Messiah. "And when we reflect on the midnight 
darkness which, from time immemorial, has shrouded this 
portion of Africa, we hail with rapture the first dawning 
of that glorious gospel-day which is signified in this oracle. 
He, with whom a thousand years is as a day, and a day as 
a thousand years, works his own sovereign will, and effects 
his purposes of grace and goodness, in a manner above 
the comprehension of men. For ages Africa has been 
' meted out and trodden down.' Her deep moral degra- 
dation seems, by universal consent, to have been justifica- 
tion in regarding her as lawful plunder, and as a land on 
which a curse rests. But we rejoice that these days are 
going by. The darkness of ages is yielding to the bright 
rising of the ' Sun of righteousness.' Idolatry and super- 
stition are retiring before Christianity and civilization, and 
on the mountain top, once defiled by sacrifices to devils, 

11 



242 RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. 

the banner of the cross is unfurled, while a voice in the 
wilderness is proclaiming : ' The kingdom of heaven is at 
ham I,' repent and believe the gospel." 

' I have here also the " Report of the Liberia Mission 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the minutes of 
their Annual Conference in Liberia in 1835." This docu- 
ment is full of interest, and displays the same zeal, energy, 
and ability which you find generally among the colonists. 
Of the conference, the report says, " The greatest harmony 
and peace prevailed during our session, and it is confidently 
hoped that this little band of ambassadors for Christ have 
gone to their respective appointments with increasing zeal 
in the cause of their Divine Master, and holy resolutions 
to spend and be spent in the blessed work of winning 
souls for God. Our love-feast and sacramental occasions 
were attended by manifestations of the Holy Spirit of God, 
in the quickening of his children, the conviction and con- 
version of souls, and tin- spread of divine truth. The altar 
was thronged on the last evening with weeping, broken- 
hearted seekers of Christ and his great salvation. Having 
been very affectionately requested by our brethren of both 
Baptist churches to occupy their pulpits throughout the 
meeting, and especially on the Sabbath, we appointed la- 
borers accordingly ; so that the word of life was dispensed 
nine times on Sunday in the town of Monrovia by preach- 
ers of the Methodist conference. May lie who giveth the 
increase, water the good seed from on high, that it may 
bring forth abundantly to his eternal glory." It would 
seem by the minutes that the number of ministers of this 
denomination in the colony, was, at the beginning of 1835, 
twelve; and the number of communicants upwards of 200. 
The report also speaks of the appointment ofa missionary 
" for the interior of Africa, to carry the light of the gospel 
. of Jesus Christ into the dark regions of this benighted 
land.* 1 The appointment, it is Bald, seems to be regarded 
by the members of the conference with the warmest ap- 



RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. 243 

probation, and one good result already discovered from it 
is the awakening a missionary spirit among the preachers. 
Several are ready to say, ' Here are we, send us. We 
covet the privilege of carrying the gospel to the heathen 
tribes." The Report concludes, " If we are to judge from 
the appearance of the fields around us, which are already 
' white unto harvest,' we should conclude that ' the set time 
to favor Zion has come,' yea, that ' noio is the accepted 
time, noio is the day of salvation.' Men and brethren, 
help ! O help to disenthral poor bleeding Africa from the 
hellish grasp of the enemy of all righteousness ! Help to 
promote the moral and religious prosperity of this infant 
Colony, destined as it is to be rendered the savor of life 
unto life to this benighted continent." 

' In a number of the Liberia Herald, which is now be- 
fore me, dated as long ago as 1836, I find pleasing evidence 
of the advancement of the colony in all that is good, and 
of the rich blessings which God designs to pour through 
it upon a benighted continent, in the fact that a number of 
natives who had been brought under the influence of the 
gospel, and had been for some time communicants in one 
of the Baptist churches, had been dismissed from that par- 
ticular church to form a new one in a situation more ad- 
vantageous to their extended usefulness. I will give you 
the article announcing this event, as I find it in the Monro- 
via paper : " On Sunday thirty-six native Africans, resident 
at New Georgia, late members of the First Baptist Church 
in this place, having been dismissed by letters, were 
brought into visibility as a church, in the place of their re- 
sidence. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Skinner, charge and right 
hand of fellowship by Rev. H. Teage, and concluding 
prayer by Rev. A. W. Anderson. The exercises of the oc- 
casion were truly solemnly pleasing and impressive. They 
naturally threw the mind back to the period when they who 
were thus solemnly dedicating themselves to God, to be 
constituted into a ' golden candlestick ' from which the di- 



244 RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. 

vine light is to chase the surrounding gloom, were in the 
darkness of nature, without God, without revelation, and 
consequently without the hope it inspires. These reflections 
seemed to produce a reaction of the mind, and threw it on 
an immoveable foundation, the promise that 'Ethiopia 
shall s.n>n stretch forth her hands unto God.' On this cir- 
cumstance the mind seemed invited to repose, as an earnest 
of the full completion of the promise, and earnestly to 
ejaculate, 'Lord, let thy kingdom come.'" 

'1 must give you on*' more extract from the same pa- 
per. It is a communication from a correspondent of the 
Herald in Monrovia, and relates to the dedication of a 
Presbyterian church : " Mr. Editor, as every circumstance 
which has any relation to the spreading of our Messed reli- 
gion in Africa, must have a tendency to give satisfaction to 
every lover and follower of the religion of Jesus Christ, 
you will confer a favor <m one of your constant readers by 
giving publication to this. Having understood that the 
First Presbyterian Church was to be dedicated to the ser- 
vice of God, I attended, and was happy to find the principal 
pari of the inhabitants of this town presenl on so interesting 
an occasion. Every denomination of saints seemed to re- 
joice that another temple hail been erected an. I dedicated 
to the worship of Almighty God. It was enough that the 
pure religion of Jesus Chrisl was to he inculcated from that 

Bacred pulpit, and, as that servant of God, the Rev. I \ 

Teage, remarked, where he then si 1 preaching the dedi- 
cation sermon, sixteen years past, the devil's bush stood; 
what skeptic could doubt thai colonization and missionary 
enterprise had done so much goodl The servioe com- 
menced by singing a hymn selected for the occasion, and 
reading the 8th chapter of the 2d book of Kings, by the 
Pastor, Rev. .lames Eden; Bermon by Rev. G Teage; 
concluding prayer by Rev. A. D. Williams, of the M. E. 

Church How trulv animating it is to see temples arise 
for the worship of God where not long since there was 



RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. 245 

nothing to be heard but the savage yell of the native, or 
the clinking of the poor slaves' chains. On Sunday, the 
27th December, Mr. II. B. Matthews was ordained a 
ruling elder of the church, by Rev. Mr. Wilson, of Cape 
Palmas." ' 

' It is indeed delightful to witness the interest taken by 
different denominations of Evangelical Christians, in behalf 
of this too long neglected continent. Since 1837 a vigor- 
ous, increasingly effective, and most successful mission, 
has been in progress under the direction of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of the United States, at Cape Palmas. — 
More recently the Church has been efficiently organized 
there, by the consecration of the Rt. Rev. J. Payne, D.D. 
as Missionary Bishop of that once enlightened, but since 
benighted land — the scene of the labors of a Tertullian, a 
Cyprian, and other Fathers of the Church. The High 
School and other institutions of learning and religion, con- 
nected with the mission, form most cheering items in the 
missionary reports.'* 

* An officer of the Navy, United States, writing from Monrovia, in 
1851, says : — " On the Sabbath, we attended worship in the Metho- 
dist Church, — the largest in the place, — which was well filled by a 
well dressed, and apparently a devout congregation. The sermon 
was preached by the Rev. Mr. Burns, a colored man, from the text 
— ' There remaineth, therefore, a rest for the people of God.' Mr. 
Burns is an interesting speaker. His exposition and application 
were eloquent and happy. We all agreed that it is seldom, even 
in our own highly favored land, that we listen to a sermon of 
greater interest and beauty. The effect upon my own mind was 
pleasing ; and when the congregation all united in singing the favo- 
rite old hymn — 

■ There is a land of pure delight,' 

I could scarcely realize that I was in Africa, and worshipping upon a 
spot where, a few years since, the wild beasts of the forest roamed 
undisturbed, except by marauders seeking to enslave their fellows. 
The location of Monrovia, the metropolis of Liberia, is very beautiful, 
the finest decidedly on the northern coast. It is regularly laid out, the 



246 GOVERNMENT OK LIBERIA. 

' I do not sco, Pa, why the Colonization Society and the 
interests <>f the colony should be so virulently opposed as 
the] are by many V 

' It is strange that it is opposed by so many from whom 
we might have expected better things; and especially since 
something, it is admitted by all, must be done, and since no 
better scheme has yet been devised. 

'Should not the mighty scheme of colonization be rea- 
lized in all its parts and to its utmost extent,' said Caro- 
line, ' blessings will nevertheless be attained, it seems to 
me, which will abundantly repay every effort and sacrifice 
made.' 

' Great good has already been done, and far more than 
proportionate to the efforts made. The germ of an Ameri- 
cano-African empire has been planted; and even if coloni- 
zation should for ever cease, that colony will extend and 
extend, 1 doubl not. until its influence shall overshadow the 
continent. The plan will succeed. Heaven's blessing will 
attended it. Glorious things are in store for Africa. That 
continent has a rich blessing in the Liberia colony.' 

' It appears to me, Pa, that the object is one of the most 
noble philanthropy; we have read of a Howard, and have 
admired ; but here is a philanthropy that seeks to disen- 
thral and elevate three millions of outcasts who are now 
among ourselves, ami to establish the liberties and secure 
the best good of a continent.' 

• \nd that continent, Caroline, is estimated as contain- 
ing fifty millions of immortal souls! some say, two hun- 
dred millions /' 

' Truly a noble cause !' 

'A noble cause, indeed; and we may all, if we will, 

Mo ( n, wbii sfa are broad, croasrag each other at right angls. It con- 
tnins noun two hundred houses some el' them large, 6ne buildings, 
and nil, I believe, comfortable. There are alio several churches, an 
orphan house, markel hooee, court house, «£c." 



THE REPUBLIC. 247 

enjoy the honor of engaging in its interests, and of helping 
forward this blessed enterprise.' 

' In our next conversation we will view Liberia under 
a new aspect ; that of a free and independent Republic V 



mmrnmLHWn xxv. 



" Non euim est ulla res in qua proprius ad Deorum numen virtus 
accedat liumaua, quam civitates aut condere novas, aut conservaro 
jam conditas." — Cicero. 

' We feel great interest, Pa, in the subject proposed for 
this evening's conversation ; and we would like for you to 
inform us what has been the government of the colonies 
previous to the organization of the Republic.' 

' The government has always been, as far as practicable, 
republican ; designed from the first, expressly to prepare 
the colonists, ably and successfully, to govern themselves. 

' It has been well said, " The early history, and the pe- 
culiar manner of the'^ formation of the Republic of Liberia, 
will, doubtless, be regarded hereafter as one of the most 
extraordinary, as well as fortunate events of modern 
times." I know not that I can better present the subject 
than to continue the very language of the very able report 
of the American Colonization Society, in announcing the 
result. " The principles and the policy have been totally 
unlike those which have, in all other instances, resulted in 
the planting of colonics, and the erection of states. For 
nearly one-third of a century the Society had been labor- 
ing to elevate a portion of the colored race from their de- 



248 THE REPUBLIC. 

I condition, to accustom them to self-contol, to in- 
spire them with the feelings of self-respect, and a desire 
for improvement, and to train them in the arts and sci< 
and thus to raise them to a commanding position among 
the nations of tin' earth. It had gathered together a few 
thousands of them who were willing to be pioneers in the 
great undertaking, who were bound together by some 
common principle of union, and who had implanted within 
them some correct estimate of the nature and consequen- 
ces of the duties devolving upon them. This process had 
been going on, until there appeared to be among the colo- 
nists sulhcieiit intelligence and virtue to conduct their own 
public affairs with honor and advantage. 

' There were also some things existing in their peculiar 
condition, and their relations to the leading governments 
of the world, which seemed to render the formation, by 
them, of an independent government indispensable to their 
future quietness and prosperity. England particularly had 
refused to recognize, in the authorities of Liberia, any right 
rcise jurisdiction over their own territory, or to pre- 
senile the terms on which others should hold intercourse 
with them. And British traders had repeatedly refused to 
p;i\ the small duties imposed by the laws of Liberia on 
goods lnought into her ports. 

4 Under these circumstances, the Colonial Council, at 
their session in January, 1845, passed a resolution, calling 
the attention of tin- Society to the disabilities under which 
they labored, and proposing as a remedy some change in 
their political organization. 

'Accordingly, the Board of Directors, in January, 1S4G, 
proposed to the colonists to assume all the responsibilities of 
tlnir government, ami become, to all intents and purposes, 
an independent nation. 

■To this proposition they, after much deliberation, 
yielded assent To effect it, considerable changes in their 
affairs were requisite. 



DECLARATION OV INDEPENDENCE. 249 

1 In July, 1847, a convention of delegates elected by the 
people met in Monrovia, and after twenty-one days of deli- 
beration, adopted the form of a constitution, which was sub- 
mitted to the vote of the citizens in September, and was 
with great unanimity adopted. This constitution reflects 
upon them the highest honor. The new flag of the Repub- 
lic was hoisted, and their independence declared and cele- 
brated with appropriate ceremonies, and the Republic of 
Liberia assumed its proper and permanent position in the 
political world !* 

' The Constitution adopted is an admirable document. 
The Report from which I have read remarks truly, " They 
have had the good sense to copy after the most magnificent 
form of Government which the world has ever beheld ! 
The institutions which have been the sources of so much 
happiness to the citizens of the United States, have been 
the models for the formation of theirs. As far as their cir- 
cumstances rendered possible, they have adopted the form 
of government which exist in our own country." Passing 
by the constitution, which you can examine at your leisure, 
I will read to you their Declaration of Independence : 

" We the representatives of the people of the Common- 
wealth of Liberia, in Convention assembled, invested with 
authority for forming a new government, relying upon the 

* The following Flag and Seal were adopted by the convention, 
as the insignia of the Republic of Liberia, and ordered to be em- 
ployed to mark its nationality : — 

Flag : Six red stripes with five white stripes alternately dis- 
played longitudinally. In the upper angle of the flag, next to the 
spear, a square blue ground covering in depth five stripes. In the 
centre of the blue, one white star. 

Seal : A dove on the wing with an open scroll in its claws. A 
view of the ocean with a ship under sail. The sun just emerging 
from the waters. A palm tree, and at its base a plow and spade. 
Beneath the emblems, the words Republic of Liberia, and above 
the emblems, the national motto, the love of liberty brought us 

HERE. 

11* 



250 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

aid and protection of the Great Arbiter of human events, 
do hereby, in the name and on behalf of the people of this 
Commonwealth, publish and declare the said Common- 
wealth a FREE, SOVEREIGN, AND INDEPENDENT STATE, b)' the 

name and title of the Republic of Liberia. 

" While announcing to the nations of the world the new 
position which the people of this Republic have felt them- 
selves called upon to assume, courtesy to their opinion 
seems to demand a brief accompanying statement of the 
causes which induced them, first to expatriate themselves 
from the land of their nativity, and to form settlements on 
this barbarous coast, and now to organize their government 
by the assumption of a sovereign and independent charac- 
ter. Therefore we respectfully ask their attention to the 
following facts. 

'• We recognise in all men certain natural and inalien- 
able rights : among these are life, liberty, and the right to 
possess, enjoy, and defend property. By the practice and 
consent of men in all ages, some sjystcm or form of govern- 
ment is proven to be necessary to exercise, enjoy, and se- 
cure those rights ; and every people have a right to insti- 
tute a government, and to choose and adopt that system or 
form of it, which in their opinion will most effectually ac- 
complish these objects, and secure their happiness, which 
does not interfere with the just rights of others. The right 
therefore to institute government, and to all the powers ne- 
cessary to conduct it, is an inalienable right, and cannot be 
resisted without the grossest injustice. 

" We, the people of the Republic of Liberia, were ori- 
ginally the inhabitants of the United States of North Ame- 
rica. 

" In some parts of the country we were debarred by 
law from all the rights and privileges of men — in other 
parts, public sentiment, more powerful than law, frowned 
us down. 

" We were every where shut out from all civil office. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 251 

" We 'were excluded from all participation in the go- 
vernment. 

" We were taxed without our consent. 

" We were compelled to contribute to the resources of 
a country which gave us no protection. 

" We were made a separate and distinct class, and 
against us every avenue to improvement was effectually 
closed. Strangers from all lands of a color different from 
ours, were preferred before us. 

" We uttered our complaints, but they were unattended 
to, or only met by alleging the peculiar institutions of the 
country. 

" All hope of a favorable change in our country was 
thus wholly extinguished in our bosoms, and we looked with 
anxiety abroad for some asylum from the deep degradation. 

" The Western coast of Africa was the place selected 
by American benevolence and philanthropy for our future 
home. Removed beyond those influences which depressed 
us in our native land, it was hoped we would be enabled to 
enjoy those rights and privileges, and exercise and improve 
those faculties which the God of nature has given us in 
common with the rest of mankind. 

" Under the auspices of the American Colonization So- 
ciety we established ourselves here, on lands acquired by 
purchase from the Lords of the soil. 

" In an original compact with this Society, we, for im- 
portant reasons, delegated to it certain political powers ; 
while this institution stipulated that whenever the people 
should become capable of conducting the government, or 
whenever the people should desire it, this institution would 
resign the delegated power, peaceably withdraw its super- 
vision, and leave the people to the government of them- 
selves. 

" Under the auspices and guidance of this institution, 
which has nobly and in perfect faith redeemed its pledges 
to the people, we have grown and prospered. 



252 DECLARATION OK INDEPENDENCE. 

" From time to time our number has been increased by 
migration from America, and by accessions from native 
tribes : and from time to time, as circumstances required it, 
we have extended our borders by acquisition of land by 
honorable purchase from the natives of the country. 

" As our territory has extended, and our population in- 
creased. <>ur commerce has also increased. The flags of 
most of the civilized nations of the earth float in our har- 
bors, and their merchants are opening an honorable and 
profitable trade. Until recently, these visits have been of 
a uniformly harmonious character, but as they have become 
more frequent, and to more numerous points of our ex- 
tending coast, questions have arisen, which it is supposed 
can be adjusted only by agreement between sovereign 
power-;. 

kl For years past, the American Colonization Society has 
virtually withdrawn from all direct and active part in the 
administration of the government, except in the appoint- 
ment of Governor, who KB also a colonist, for the apparent 
purpose of testing the ability of the people to conduct the 
affairs of government, and no complaint of crude legislation, 
nor of mismanagement, nor of maladministration has yet 
been heard- 

" In view of these facts, this institution, the American Co- 
lonization Society, with that good faith which has uniform- 
ly marked all its dealings with us, did, by a set of resolu- 
tions in January, in the year of Our Lord One Thousand 
Eight Hundred and Forty-six, dissolve all political con- 
nexion with the people of this Republic, return the power 
with which it Mas delegated, and left the people to the go- 
vernment of themselves. 

"Tlir people of the Republic of Liberia then, are of 
right, and in fact, a free, sovereign and independent State; 
; of all the rights, powers, and functions of govern- 
ment. 

•In assuming the momentous responsibilities of tho 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 253 

position they have taken, the people of this Republic feel 
justified by the necessities of the case, and with this convic- 
tion they throw themselves with confidence upon the candid 
consideration of the civilized world. 

" Liberia is not the offspring of grasping ambition, nor 
the tool of avaricious speculation. 

" No desire for territorial aggrandizement brought us 
to these shores ; nor do we believe so sordid a motive en- 
tered into the high considerations of those who aided us in 
providing this asylum. 

" Liberia is an asylum from the most grinding oppres- 
sion. 

" In coming to the shores of Africa we indulged the 
pleasing hope that we would be permitted to exercise and 
improve those faculties which impart to man his dignity — 
to nourish in our hearts the flame of honorable ambition, 
to cherish and indulge those aspirations which a beneficent 
Creator had implanted in every human heart, and to evince 
to all who despise, ridicule and oppress our race, that we 
possess with them a common nature, are with them suscep- 
tible of ecjual refinement, and capable of equal advancement 
in all that adorns and dignifies man. 

" We were animated with the hope that here we should 
be at liberty to train up our children in the way they should 
go — to inspire them with the love of an honorable fame, to 
kindle within them the flame of a lofty philanthropy, and 
to form strong within them the principles of humanity, vir- 
tue and religion. 

" Among the strongest motives to leave our native land 
— to abandon for ever the scenes of our childhood, and to 
sever the most endeared connexions, was the desire for a re- 
treat where, free from the agitations of fear and molesta- 
tion, we could, in composure and security, approach in wor- 
ship, the God of our fathers. 

" Thus far our highest hopes have been realized. 

" Liberia is already the happy home of thousands, who 



254 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

were once the doomed victims of oppression, and if left un- 
molested to go on with her natural and spontaneous growth ; 
if her movements be left free from the paralysing intrigues 
of jealous ambitious, and unscrupulous avarice, she will 
throw open a wider and yet a wider door for thousands 
who are now looking with an anxious eye for some laud of 
rest. 

" Our courts of justice are open equally to the stranger 
and the citizen for the redress of grievances, for the remedy 
of injuries, and for the punishment of crime. 

" Our numerous and well attended schools attest our ef- 
forts, and our desire for the improvement of our children. 

" Our churches for the worship of our Creator, every 
where to be seen, bear testimony to our piety, and to our 
acknowledgment of His Providence. 

••The native African bowing down with us before the al- 
tar of the living God, declare that from us, feeble as we are, 
the light of Christianity has gone forth, Avhile upon that 
curse of curses, the slave-trade, a deadly blight has fallen as 
far as our influence extends. 

"Therefore, in the name of humanity, and virtue and reli- 
gion — in the name of the Great God, our common Creator, 
and our common Judge, we appeal to the nations of Chris- 
tendom, and earnestly and respectfully ask of them, that 
they will regard us with the sympathy and friendly oonav 
ih ration, to which the peculiarities of our condition entitle 
us, and to extend to us, thai comity which marks the friend- 
ly intercourse of civilized and independent communities. 



Signed, 8. BbKKDICT, President, 

.1. N. LxwiSj 

ll. Tragi, 

B*T1 ki.y EL Wilson, 

Elijah Johhsoh, 

.1. B. Gripov, 

John Dat, 

A. W. Gardner, 

KmOI IIf.ukim;, 

Bphraim Tiller, J 

K. E. Mirrat, County of Sinoo. 

J. W. Trout, Secretary of Convention." 



■ Montsorrado County. 



Grand Bussa County. 



INDEPENDENCE ACKNOWLEDGED. 255 

Thus, my children, we see, upon the shores of Africa, 
— established in what u<as the very centre of barbarism and 
the slave-trade, a Sovereign and Independent Government, 
the Republic of Liberia ! — the germ, I doubt not, of a ris- 
ing, prosperous, mighty Empire !' 

1 To the early friends and patrons of Colonization,' said 
C. ' this result must be exceedingly gratifying, as a fulfil- 
ment in part of the original designs of the Society, and of 
their fondest hopes V 

' Yes,' said Mr. L. ' to see a colony of free colored men 
established, and to have demonstrated to the world the fact 
that colonization is practicable, and that the freed colored 
man is capable of self-government, is something : it now re- 
mains to be seen, whether, increasing in virtue and intelli- 
gence, they will' advance in population, wealth, and com- 
merce, and exhibit a prosperous, tranquil, w T ell-governed 
State, fulfilling ultimately our hopes, by giving political and 
religious character and importance to that vast continent. 
In expectation of this, faith reaches forward, and the past 
and present inspire us with confidence.' 

' They must feel,' said H. that they have entered upon 
a new career ; and with new responsibilities, will find a new 
impetus and motive to action.' 

' They seem,' said Mr. L. ' to understand their new posi- 
tion, and all their subsequent acts augur well for the future.' 

' How,' asked C. ' has the new position they have assum- 
ed been regarded by the nations V 

Said Mr. L. ' England, France, Belgium, and Prussia, 
have already acknowledged the Republic, and have entered 
into treaties with it, of amity and commerce, on terms of 
entire reciprocity. Other powers, no doubt, will do the 
same.' 

' But,' said C. ' you do not mention our own Govern- 
ment V 

' Our own Government,' Mr. L. replied, ' I am sorry to 
6ay, have not yet acted in this matter, further than to say, 



256 NEW MOTIVE TO ACTION. 

" it shall be considered." The reason for this delay, it is not 
for me to Bay. I am qo partizan. But so it is, that, whilst 
other powers have hastened to recognize the new Republic, 
and bid it 'God speed,' there is an influence here that 
delays!' 

4 The friends of Colonization, Pa,' said Henry, ' will still 
continue their aid V 

' Certainly. It is not for a moment to be imagined that 
because Liberia has become independent, the work of Colo- 
nization has, therefore, come to a conclusion. Henceforth 
the Society must be the helper of a new state ; not its di- 
rector. Her claims to sympathy are, in important respects, 
placed upon new ground. The Executive Committee of the 
American Colonization Society, say, Liberia " needs more 
nun in all the departments of her government, in all the 
branches of her industry, in all the channels of her com- 
merce, in all her churches and her sehools. These men 
must, tortlie present, mainly besenl from this country; most 
of them are destitute of means to defray their own expenses. 
The Society must raise the money and aid them to the full 
extent of their necessities. 

' Already has the new position Liberia has assumed, 
given a spring to every class of business in the Republic* 

■ In ;i bark chartered by the American Colonization Society, sad 
which sailed in 1851, with one hundred anil twenty-six emigrants, a 
company of the emigrants carried with them a saw-mill, with all ilio 
necessary appurtenances, to In- located in tin; country of Sinoe, 
Liberia. Tin- cost of the whole machinery at Savannah was about 
two tl sond dollars, the greater part of « hich was paid by an enter- 
prising Mack man at Savannah, named Edward Hall, who, by in- 
dustry and economy, had been enabled to purchase himself ids wile, 
and two grown brothers, all of whom accompanied him. '1'his will 
be the first introduction of steam machinery into Liberia ; but a joint 
stock company of free colored persons in Virginia has lately lien 
formed lor the purchasing and carrying out a steam-mill, and another 
company in Charleston, South Carolina, are making arrangements 
to carry oat one next spring. The prospects of introducing »n-uiu 



COLONIZATION PRACTICABLE. 257 

Every man seems to feel a renewed sense of responsibility. 
The dignity of free citizenship is upon him. The founda- 
tions are laid for Christian nationality. It is the radiating 
point for the spread of Christian circulation over the conti- 
nent. Every good man will bid them God speed. 

machinery commensurate with the wants of the citizens of Liberia 
seem to be encouraging. 

Important movements of the free colored population are occur- 
ring, of such a nature as to indicate the direction to which their 
opinions tend. Companies have been organized in several States, 
who have decided to emigrate and form settlements on the coast of 
Africa. The leaven of peaceful separation is at work, and will 
doubtless hereafter manifest itself in a stream of emigration to Li- 
beria, in proportion to their number, as great as now pours upon us 
from Europe. Indeed, the very process of this European emigra- 
tion will precipitate that result. 

Agricultural experiments have made a decided and rapid advance 
during the year. 

A company organized in England to tiy experiments for cotton- 
raising on the coast of Africa have, under the agency of Mr. Shaw, 
succeeded in Liberia better than elsewhere, and, by the latest ac- 
counts, were about to export a load of cotton to England. Coffee- 
planting has been prosecuted on a large scale, and bids fair to 
become a prominent source of wealth to the emigrants. 



(DOT'OllRMTOOT SSVL 



" As in ancient Rome it was regarded as the mark of a good 
citizen, never to despair of the fortunes of the republic ; so the good 
citizen of the world, whatever may be the political aspect of his own 
times, will never despair of the fortunes of the human race; but will 
act upon the conviction that prejudice, slavery, and corruption, must 
gradually give way to truth, liberty, and virtue." — Dugald Stewart. 

' I think, Pa,' said Caroline, ' that a great good has 
been achieved in the simple demonstration that the scheme 
of the Colonization Society is, beyond any doubt, practi- 
cal. le?' 

'Some pronounced it otherwise,' said Mr. L. 'and so 
almost every great enterprise has had to encounter simi- 
lar objections. The first suggestions touching the feasibility 
dt' employing the agency of steam — the first proposition 
for supplying by artificial means the absence of natural 
facilities for inland navigation — and the object of our revo- 
lutionary Btruggle, were treated by many as impracticable. 

So were the plans of him 

" who first unfurl'd 
"An Eastern banner o'er the Western world."" 

'The views of those who at first asserted the impracti- 
cability of the enterprise, and augured its defeat, were ccr- 
tainlv entitled to consideration ; nor am I even now disposed 
to join with su<h as Bay that those who, at this late day, 
oppose, u des,rve a strait jacket** — but it docs appear to 
me that sine the mosl formidable difficulties have been 

* The expeditions of Columbus, Cabot, Baleigfa, Hudson, Wintlirop, 

Oglethrope, were all considered visionary. 



COLONIZATION IS PRACTICABLE. 259 

encountered and overcome, ultimate success, on a scale of 
vast magnificence, may be confidently expected. It has been 
well remarked, by a sound philosopher, that " the greatest 
of all obstacles to the improvement of the world, is the pre. 
vailing belief of its improbability, which damps the exertions 
of so many individuals ; and that, in proportion as the con- 
trary opinion becomes general, it realizes the event which 
it leads us to anticipate." Mr. Dugald Stewart further re- 
marks, that " if any thing can have a tendency to call forth, 
in the public service, the exertions of individuals, it must 
be an idea of the magnitude of that work in which they are 
conspiring, and a belief of the permanence of those benefits 
which they confer on mankind, by every attempt to inform 
and enlighten them." This enterprise has suffered much 
from unnecessary discouragement and opposition ; but it is a 
noble work, and in respect to the benefit which it promises, 
may well rank among the first of the benevolent and pa- 
triotic efforts of man.' 

' It certainly appears no more than just,' C. remarked, 
' that we seek in this way to do Africa good ; we have long 
enough done her wrong.' 

' True, my daughter ; and I cannot better express my 
sentiment on this part of our duty, than to use the language 
of Mr. Frelinghuysen: — "We have committed a mighty 
trespass. Africa has a heavy claim against us. It is a long 
and bloody catalogue of outrage and oppression. The report 
of our national crime has gone up to heaven. It rose up- 
on the groans and tears of her kidnapped children — the in- 
fernal horrors of the slave-ship have, in ten thousand instan- 
ces, wrung from distracted bosoms the cry for vengeance ; 
and there is a just God to hear and regard it. On the 
front of this blessed scheme of humanity is inscribed, in bet- 
ter than golden characters, ' Recompense to the injured.' " 

' A consideration of interest to every one who loves 
his country and the cause of God, is, we shall, by coloni- 
zation, not only establish the liberties of Africa, under our 



200 COLONIZATION HAS CLAIMS ON THE PATRIOT. 

own, the very best form of government, but we shall cheer 
that whole land with the pure lighl of Christianity.' 

'Pa. I cannot think of an object which seems to afford 
a fairer field for the exercise of the finest feelings of the 
true patriot and Christian.' 

' What is patriotism V said Henry: 'I have thought it 
would be difficult to define it, according to the generally un- 
derstood meaning of the term at the present time. Is it not 
a feeling that influences to the practice of benevolent acts of 
self-denial and noble deeds for one's country's good"?' 

' That, Henry, is the very best meaning of the term 
when properly used. True patriotism is not a mere Belfish 
love of country, but an expansive feeling that regards the 
evils that threaten or afflict the community at large, and 
vwvy [portion of that community, and labors to avert or 
remove them. Show me thy patriotism without thy works, 
every true patriot may say. and I will show thee my patri- 
otism by my works. Empty is the boast of a patriotism 
that nerves the grasp of sordid lust when our country calls. 

" C;ui In-- be strenuous in his country's cause, 
•• Who slights the charities, for whose dear s;ike 
" That country, if at all, must be belov'd J" 

There is much such patriotism in our day; and also too 
much of that which will sacrifice every benevolent, and 
Christian, and patriotic cause on the altar of sectarian il II— 
berality, and the Littleness of party interest. Ours should 
be a patriotism thai is worthy of the descendants of revo- 
lutionary h iroes. The evils of slavery in this country ex- 
tend their influence to every part of the Union; and the 
guilt of having encouraged, in times past, the introduction 
of slavery and the continuance of the slave-trade, rests up- 
on our country; and all should be willing and desirous to 
do what ma\ be 'lone with propriety to avert these evils 

and to expiate this guilt. As respects Africa, the wrong 
which she has received from us is, in an important sense, 



COLONIZATION OR RUIN. 261 

a national sin ; and as such, its expiation should be national. 
What our country, as such, however, is not yet prepared 
to do, true patriotism may attempt, according to its ability, 
to accomplish. If we wait for national action on this sub- 
ject, Africa in the meanwhile suffers, and our country must 
suffer. Without arrogating to ourselves any disputed right 
whatever, we may individually or in associated capacities, 
do much for Africa's relief — much for our country's relief; 
whilst, in so doing, we also confer a great blessing upon the 
colored people in our land, both bond and free. And what 
may thus be done without offence, surely ought to be done, 
and done at once. There is danger in delay, for God is a 
God of justice. We may shut our eyes to the fact, and the 
mercenary hand of avarice may clench the fist which ought 
to be the open hand of benevolence and patriotism, but the 
evil will one day obtrude upon our notice. We were now 
the happiest people upon earth, but for this leprosy that is 
upon us. These 2,000,000 of bondmen who tread this soil 
of freedom, and those 500,000 of their brethren who are 
nominally free, but are connected with them in all their 
sympathies and in all their interest, with their constantly 
and rapidly increasing numbers, greatly eclipse our pros- 
pects and are portentous of calamity ! 

' It surely needs not a prophet's ken to foretell what 
will be the result of a continuance of the present state of 
things. A slight knowledge of human nature, aided by the 
history of the past, is sufficient for the purpose. Our black 
population was once a mole-hill, comparatively ; it is now 
a mountain — and what is worse, that mountain is, as we 
have seen, volcanic! Short, as yet, have been its inuptions 
and few; but they have laid waste valuable lives, and have 
caused many a family to mourn, sending also a thrill to the 
very extremities of our land. These momentary emissions 
are probably but the prelude, if something more efficient 
be not done for our relief and that specdly, of a general 
and awful explosion. Southampton and St. Domingo fur- 



262 PARTY 6TIIIFE TO BE KEGRETTED. 

Irish some idea of what may be, unless the Christian and 
patriotic of this republic, so backward in its duty to itself 
and to Africa, awake to vigorous effort. The same causes, 
with concurring circumstances, will produce like effects, so 
long as the laws of nature remain unchanged, and the na- 
ture of man the same. 

' Some, it is true, make a mock at the evils of slavery, 
and always puff at the idea of danger; but, for myself, al- 
though not made of so yielding materials as to be easily 
alarmed by merely imaginary fears, I confess it appears 
far more than possible, that should we be indifferent to 
our duty, and angry discussions continue, the great and 
glorious Author of all our happiness and prosperity may 
be provoked by our sins, to blast our national blessings, 
and lay prematurely in the grave all our prospects. Em- 
pires raise and fall at His command. We look back 
through the long vista of ages, and many nations that were, 
once, are now no more. Others are mere fragments and 
shadows of what was once their pride. Nations will not 
exisl as such in another world, and therefore receive the 
retributions of divine justice here. In what has been in the 
history of nations, we may read our own doom. It is 
written — and if we repent not of the evil, confessing and 

forsaking our .sins, and endeavoring to make suitable 
amends, whatever our national or individual sins may be, 
we must abide the consequence. There is, in what we now 
sec, cause to fear. Those local interests, and that local 
jealousy, and personal ambition, and unfeeling cupidity, 
which are already supplanting the former Bterling patriot- 
ism of our country, creating discord, justifying opposition 
to authority, trampling constitution and law under foot. 
glorying in parly devotion, lightly esteeming the national 

compact, and even threatening the dissolution of our Union, 

may be the verj prelude of a visitation of wrath from the 

r of infinite Justice. A foreign influence encouraged 

by ourselves, cherished by blind party zeal, is also every 



CAPRICE AND FURY OF INFATUATION. 263 

day acquiring strength, and may one day throw its whole 
weight into whatever scale may tell most to the ruin of 
our hopes. Our own native citizens of the North are 
divided in sentiment — not in respect to the evils of slavery 
itself — not in respect to the necessity of doing something 
to avert from us and from our country the disgrace and the 
danger — but in respect to the manner of doing it ; and 
angry debate, divisions among friends, and rioting and 
bloodshed is the consecpience !' 

' The violence of party spirit, and the atrocities that 
have been committed of late years by mobs, it appears to 
me, Pa,' said Caroline, ' are evidence of a great decline in 
correct moral sentiment, and forbode still greater inse- 
curity and danger.' 

'This is, indeed, a most alarming feature in the present 
political aspect of our country,' said Mr. L. ' Against mob 
law in any country, but especially one like ours, there is 
no security, except in the sound principles and correct 
moral feeling of the mass of the people. The spoke of the 
wheel which is upward this moment, may be down the 
next, and they who are to-day applauded, may to-morrow 
be the foot-ball of an infatuate and infuriate populace. 
Nature's great poet has well described the influence and 
caprice of a mob : 

" You are no surer, no, 
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice, 
Or hailstone in the sun. Your virtue is, 
To make him worthy, whose offence subdues him, 
And curse that justice did it. 
# # # # * pj e t j mt J e p en( j3 

Upon your favors, swims with fins of lead 

And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye ! Trust ye ! 

With every minute you do change a mind ; 

And call him noble, that was now your hate, 

Him vile, that was your garland." 

A resort to mob violence is ever to be deprecated, and 



204 DANGER ARISING FROM A MIXED POPCLATION. 

should always be discouraged by every good citizen, let 
the offence which is made a plea for the measure be what 
it may.'* 

' The increase of slaves in our country is very rapid, is 
it not, Pa '.' >;tid Henry. 

' Yes ; the increase is now near 60,000 a year. In 25 
years it will, at the present rate of increase, be 140,000! 

' How formidable,' said Caroline, ' would be an insurrec- 
tion of millions of slaves ! and these perhaps aided by tens 
of thousands of naturalized citizens whose sympathies are all 

* The author is happy here to quote the following correct and very 
sensible remarks of the Rev. George A. Baxter, D. D. of Virginia : 
" It should always be kept in mind, that in a free country the worst 
thing that can happen is the destruction of the authority of law. It 
may seem to be an innocent, or even a laudable thing, to punish a 
dangerous emissary ; but K-t it be remembered, that there is no 
medium between the power of the law and the arbitrary power of 
man ; and the arbitrary power of men, in whatever form, is despot* 

Hpn. \\ in a the mob rales, we have an hundred tyrants instead of 
one; but the more numerous our tyrants, the worse our situation. 
Should it become common for unauthorized individuals to take tho 
punishment of real or supposed crimes into their own hands, any 
mine might 1»- made a crime, every thing would be unsafe, and the 
whole population must be divided into clans or parties for the pur- 
pose of defence or retaliation ; every thing must be thrown into 
jeopardy and confusion, and we should lose all the attributes of a 
civilized and Christian people. These are considerations," the 
learned Professor adds, •• which ought to have prevented much" 
that has been done of late in the southern stutes. "Some of our 
citizens," be says, " teemed t" lose sight of these principles in tho 
moment of excitement, but since the alarm has somewhat subsided, 
th.-se principles appear to be appreciated by the great body oi the 
community." 

It is confident!; hoped and believed that the same principles 
commend themselves to the great body of the people in every part 

of our Union. May these sentiments predominate, and may all peo- 

j,l, — South or North, Hast or West — Coluuizationists or Abolitionists, 
or opposed to both or either, or in favor of both or either, or indiffe- 
rent, RESPECT THE LAWS. 



THE RACES MUST SEPARATE. 265 

with adverse powers, and abetted also, it may be, by the 
blind zeal of many native citizens who consider not the full 
tendency of their views and efforts, as well as by the reckless 
ambition of the unprincipled ! An African sceptre, or that 
of some other foreign power, may yet be wielded over some 
part or the whole of our country.' 

' I do not think that such an event will ever be,' said Mr. 
L. ' although, as I have said, we are far from secure. We 
may be scourged, and that severely, to urge us to duty, that 
the African may be permitted to go up from his house of 
bondage. Band after band of the rebellious and their coad- 
jutors may be cut down by the sword of defence ; but this 
necessity will be no light affliction upon the heart of huma- 
nity ; and it will be no light judgment which falls upon us 
when we shall look over the long catalogue of the victims 
of the nocturnal massacre — whole sections of our land being 
turned into bloody sepulchres, filled with the ghastly corpses 
of our friends, hoary age and smiling infancy, manhood in 
its strength, and womanhood in its loveliness, virgins in 
their beauty, and young men in their vigor, involved in promis- 
cuous butchery, and strewed beneath the bleeding thousands 
of slaves and their abettors, who, having done the deed, are 
made to atone for it by their own blood. 

' By the separation of the two races only, it is believed 
by many, can our country be greatly benefitted. By this, 
they contend, it will be enriched. Tens of thousands of 
places will be opened for those of our own color and habits 
and sympathies — and by a more wholesome population and 
grateful labor, industry will be promoted, misery alleviated, 
our country strengthened. Africans themselves will be en- 
riched and blessed in their father's native land, and the bene- 
fit wall be thus mutual.' 

Said Henry, ' I should think it would be considered a 
settled point that general and immediate emancipation is 
hardly safe, and not preferable to slavery either for the 
whites or the blacks V 

12 



2GG COLONIZATION UNITES CONFLICTING INTERESTS. 

Mr. L. considered it to be 'a sadly demonstrative truth 
that the negro race cannot, in this country, become enlight- 
ened and useful citizens, so long, at least, as what arc deno- 
minated our prejudices, remain the s;ime ; for such are the 
circumstances in which they will be placed, unavoidably — 
thai they will not, cannot feel a citizen's nameless incentives 
to a manly and noble conduct. The almost united voice of 
those who have had the best opportunity of judging in the 
is •• liberate them only on the condition of their going 
to Africa, llavti, or some place where they will be blessed 
by their liberty, and we secure." Nor is this the sentiment 
of those who are advOCafa s for slavery ; but of those whose 
souls indignantly disclaim so unworthy a bias, and whose 
hearts bleed for injured Africa. 

'The slavery of other nations has been that chiefly of 
men of the same complexion with the free. As soon as the 
slave was released, he and his descendants might mingle and 
lose himself in the general community of the country, undis- 
tinguished by any Btamp of nature upon his original. But 
here the features, the complexion, and every peculiarity of 
his person, pronounce upon the ransomed slave another doom. 
He feels it — and he feels it too just as we should feel it, our 
conditions reversed. And if the day ever arrives when an 
universal emancipation of the slaves of the South shall be 
effected, and tiny remain upon the soil, those whites who 
may remain with them in portions of the country where 
there shall be a decided superiority of numbers on the side 

of the blacks, will be made themselves to feel that the diffe- 
rences which nature had caused, are serious obstacles ill the 
way <>f their peace and happiness. The blacks will, in their 
turn, reaenl the idea of inferiority, assert a superiority them- 
selves, and will become the oppressors. Such is the honest 
opinion of thousands. 

• 'I he object of the Colonization Society, therefore, meets 
the views of those who wish the slaves to be freed, but who 
de-ire also to see them in a community of their own, " where 



THE COLORED MAN DEPRESSED. 267 

they may taste the joys, sustain the honors, and be stimulat- 
ed by the lofty aspirings of freemen ; where their color, and 
where a darkness of skin shall neither cramp the expansive 
energies of their intellects, slacken the vigor of their efforts, 
nor in any way establish an insuperable barrier between 
them and the first honor of the state." Believing as they do, 
and in perfect consistency with the kindliest regard for their 
colored brethren, that black and white can never associate 
in society, as white now associates with white, on equal terms, 
having one community of interest in business, in marriage, 
and the participation of all rights ; and that, therefore, they 
can never live together in happiness, and that one of these 
two great and distinctive bodies must always hold the ascen- 
dency, they feel impelled by a sacred regard for the best 
interests of their colored brethren, to encourage their colo- 
nization in a land where, if happiness consists at all in inde- 
pendence, they may be most happy.' 

' The colored man here has to yield wherever and when- 
ever there is competition. There is an unconquerable indis- 
position on the part of the white man to mix or mingle with 
them, whether it be in driving a hack or dray, or any other 
employment. It has been asked, " Is there a free colored 
man who can drive a hack or dray in New-York ?" Ten 
years ago there was not a stevedore at Fell's Point, Baltimore, 
who was not a colored man ; there is now not one there who 
is not a white man ! Ten years ago there was not a laborer 
in the coal-yards, in Baltimore, who was not a colored man ; 
now there is not a colored man in those yards ! He 
is being driven to the wall. The pressure every where is 
increasing ! 

' Year after year, and wave after wave, is bringing to our 
shores thousands of hardy white men, who are preferred to 
the colored, and are suited to our climate. Half a million, 
at least, annually cross the Atlantic, whom there is nothing 
to prevent rising. Not so the colored man ! He sees and 
knows that it is nothing but his color — the color given him 



26S FREE TO STAY OR GO. 

by God — which shuts him out from an equal chance in the 
competition ; ami it is impossible, -whilst human nature re 
mains, but that the worst passions, envy, malice, vindictive- 
Bees, will rankle in his boeOTJQ as the consequence. He 
will become more end more unhappy, as this state of things 
increases and devclopes. and more and more dangerous to 
the state. Be can never be incorporated and stand upon 
an equal platform with the whites. When the white man 
has every motive to have Europe and come to this country, 
the colored man has many, very many, for leaving it. It 
mav lie too much to say that Providence designs that the 
two races shall not amalgamate or exist in the same land, 
except in the relation of oppressor and oppressed, as some 
contend ; but no fact can be better established than this, 
that every thing Beema to indicate that lie who makes the 
wrath of man to praise trim, designs to overrule the existing 
state of things fur the good of Africa.' 

'But, l'a." said Caroline, 'this is the colored man's 
home, if he was born here; and it seems erne] that pre- 
judices should expatriate him.' 

'True, m\ daughter; but may he. not be free to go up 
from this house of bondage (for even to the free eolored 
man, his location is such in effect) if he chooses ? Ought 
he not to have the same freedom that the Irish, the Ger- 
mans, the Poles, the Hungarians, and others have, of leav- 
ing their native land to L r,, where they may better their 
condition ? No compulsion should be used to foree them 
to go -, none should be used to detain them. 

'Admit it is time, ill an important sens,-, that this is the 
country of the Colored man l»>r/i here; the Israelites, whilst 
captives in Egypt, may have claimed Egypt :' s their 
country; and those born in the wilderness, whilst their 
father S,(amids1 many perplexities,) were making their way 
to Canaan, may have regarded themselves as natives of the 
Wilderness, and mav have claimed the privilege of enduring 
its trials. But the Land of /VoflUM, lutinate Wisdom ro- 



COLONIZATION. 269 

garded as their home, and thither, by His guidance, they 
were led. And if Providence opens a door for the colored 
man's exodus, and return to Africa ; and if his judgment 
determines him to go ; shall we place obstacles in the way ; 
or shall we assist him, and bid him " God speed ?" 

' God, who "moves in a mysterious way his wonders t0 ( 
perform ;" whose ways are inscrutable, but always wise ; 
and who permitted Joseph to be sold, and carried into 
Egypt ; it may be has permitted the introduction of the 
colored man here, that to Africa may be rolled back the 
blessings of civilization, of religion and of freedom. Thus, 
whilst the character of a race is elevated, and whilst they 
who go secure blessings which may not here be enjoyed •> 
or, at best, may be doubtful ; and if attainable, distant in 
prospect, and to be attained only by increasing troubles, 
and dangers, and distress, endangering the peace and wel- 
fare of all concerned; they become the instruments in the 
hand of God of the fulfilment of great designs of good — of 
a blessed promise, " ^Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her 
hands unto God." ' 

Said Caroline, ' It is very evident that great wisdom 
and prudence are necessary in determining a question of 
such moment. O, I wish that all good men could all think 
alike, and act together in this matter, pursuing right mea- 
sures and cherishing right desires. I am satisfied that the 
whole subject, in all its relations and bearings, is too little 
understood.' 

Said Mr. L. ' Mild, temperate, moderate, the coloniza- 
tion enterprise may well appeal to Heaven for continuance 
and support. It is a common object for the common bene 
fit of the whole country — for two races — for two conti 
nents. 

' The Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D. the venerable. 
Professor at Princeton, has said, " For a long time I enter- 
tamed no sanguine expectations of success, in planting a 
colony on the coast of Africa, with the feeble means pos- 



270 COLONIZATION. 

■ \ by the Society. Hut the design, I believe, was from 
I and He has given efficacy to exertions which most 

men predicted must prove abortive. I am constrained to 
declare that I have never known any enterprise in which 
selfish motives had so little opportunity for exercise. * * 
At this time there is not upon earth a more wonderful phe- 
nomenon than the little Republic of Liberia, governed as it 
is by men of as sound wisdom as can be found in the 
counsels of any country. * * In future ages, when the 
impartial historian surveys the events of the first half of 
the nineteenth century, he will be apt to fix on the planting 
of this colony, and the establishment of this Republic, un- 
aided by government, as the most remarkable achievement 
of the whole period. Perhaps it is without a parallel in 
history." - 

Said Caroline, 'It appears to me that interest, pride, 
ambition, self-love, self-respect, benevolence, - faith, hope 
and charity," all combine to lead the five people of color to 
Liberia, as the home for themselves and their children — the 
field of the most perfect developement of their powers — 
and for the most extensive usefulness.' 

Mr. L. remarked, -Dr. Hodgkin, of London, a warm 
friend ami advocate of Colonization, has suggested that the 
fundamental principle of the Colonization Society maybe 
compared with thai of the Bible Society, whose avowed object 

is the delusion of the plll'e Word of God, " without llotC Or 

comment, an object to which few can be opposed who are 
not opposed to the Bible." " Its single objeel is • the colo- 
nization of the free people of color, with their consent, in 
Africa, or such other place as Congress may deem most ex- 
pedient." [conceive," said \)v. Hodgkin, "that the found- 
en of the sodetj are entitled to praise for having given so 
brief and, at the Bame time, so comprehensive a definition 
of their object. It sets forth explicitly, abundant work for 
any society to undertake, without ad vanoing any thing which 
can come in collision with the expressed or even secret 



AN HONORABLE INSTANCE. 271 

opinions of any parties or individuals, unless it be of thoso 
who believe that the well-being of the blacks will be pro- 
moted in proportion to the increase of their numbers with- 
in the States, ;i doctrine which appears to have originated 
since the formation of the Colonization Society. It cannot, 
however, be supposed that the supporters of the Bible 
Society merely contemplate the scattering of Bibles and 
Testaments, from which no other effect is to proceed than 
the mere occupation of space. They look forward to their 
becoming the powerful agents of an enlightening and mora- 
lizing influence. But if we interrogate the members of that 
society individually, we shall probably find, that, besides 
the one object in which they all cordially unite, there are 
other inducements, differing in each, and which could not 
be brought forward without their again becoming the sub- 
jects of schismatic convulsions and violent dispute. The 
principle motive appears to be to benefit the colored popu- 
lation, and more especially that portion of it which, though 
not literally loaded with servile chains, is nevertheless 
suffering from the pains of slavery, and, with but few ex- 
ceptions, reduced to a miserable and degraded rank in 
society, and for wdiose assistance many comparatively un- 
successful efforts have previously been made. At the same 
time the founders of the Society were fully sensible that the 
baneful influence of slavery was by no means limited to 
those objects of their care, but that it was also generally 
felt by the great mass of the white population." 

' Permit me, here, my dear children,' said Mr. L. 'to 
mention the case of one whose memory I respect, whom I 
have often met at the table of our common Lord, and whom 
I have seen year after year shedding around him the influ- 
ence of a Christian example, in circumstances both prospe- 
rous and afflictive. I took some pains, a few years since, 
when travelling in the southern part of our country, to call 
upon him, that I might converse with him on the subject of 
our present conversation. This man — I will recall the ex- 



272 AN HONORABLE INSTANCE. 

pression — this gentleman, for gentleman he was, in the legi- 
timate- sense of the term, had been himself a slave. He 
gave for his freedom, from what he had earned over and 
above the daily sum which was required by an indulgent 
master, who had hired him his time, one thousand dollars, 
lie then, ly patient and persevering industry and frugality, 
purchased his wife and ehild Avho were also slaves ; and for 
them was required to give to their exorbitant master, four- 
teen hundred dollars! When he told me of this latter faet, 
which I knew before, he said, with a smile of self-gratulation, 
and with two meanings, both of which I believe were most 
sincere, "She is my dear wife t" He was of a commanding 
person, modest demeanor, gentlemanly address, well inform- 
ed mind, humble piety, good judgment, business talents, 
and was, when 1 last saw him, surrounded by an interesting 
family, and possessed of two valuable plantations. lie was 
also said to be owner of a large number of slaves, and had 
been instrumental in procuring the freedom of a still larger 
number. Said this individual, in answer to my inquiries, 
designed to elicit his views, '•! cannot, to be sure, contem- 
plate the condition of my family without feeling. Color is 
a di\ iding line that of course separates them from the socie- 
ty of white people, in a great measure, and there are few 
associates for them of sufficient respectability among the 
colored. Respectable colored people are not indeed at home 
in this country. 1 feel most for my children," said he, the 
big tear starting in his eye and fall rug down his manly 
check. I suggested that some bad thought to better their 
condition by removal; he said, "Some recommend Ohio, 
some New-England, or elsewhere, but the same difficulty 
exists in every place. Much has been said of Hayti, but our 
own government and institutions are better than theirs. I 
have read and thought much of Liberia, and approve of the 
colony, but the colored people generally prefer to remain 
where they are; 1 am myself getting to be old, and shall 
Boon Ik- done with earth. " He expressed himself with mo- 



A NATION S OATH. 273 

desty and caution, but with proper self-respect, intimating 
that if he could see his family differently situated, not isolat- 
ed as here, he should die happy. It was decidedly his opi- 
nion that the whites and blacks can never live together as 
one community, both enjoying all those privileges which 
are indispensable to the happiness of either. 

' ' I will now advert briefly to other considerations which 
should influence us in desiring to see the evils and the re- 
proach of slavery done away. A powerful motive, in my 
mind, is the fact, that whilst humanity and patriotism call 
us to the work, the nations of the earth look to us that we 
should do it. They have before them, hung up, as it were 
in mid-heaven, ha view of the whole world, for all to gaze 
upon, that noble instrument, our Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. That Declaration, it has been well said, is a nation's 
oath ; the solemn and direct appeal of a Christian nation to 
the high Providence above ; an appeal, the responsibilities 
of which were assumed in the face of the whole world. 
When I think of that declaration, and of the comment which 
slavery furnishes upon a certain line of it, I confess that I 
feel the patriot's glow of wounded pride and deep regret ; 
and, were it practicable, I would fain hold up that memo- 
rable instrument to the view of my countrymen, and beseech 
them to weigh again its solemn import, and retract, amend, 
justify, or unite in practice which shall be consistent with 
our declarations. With a voice that should sound from the 
St. Lawrence to California, and from these shores to the 
farthest West, should it be done consistently with our obli- 
gations to all, I would exhort our country, and intreat every 
individual to look, and by harmonious action, wipe off from 
our national escutcheon this dark blot. Would the South 
prepare the way, and could the resources of our national 
treasury be brought to the accomplishment of this noble 
deed, every section of our common country uniting cheer- 
fully in the arrangement, I would greatly rejoice. It would 
reflect high honor upon our beloved land. 

12* 



274 HEAVEN ON THE SIDE OF AFRICA. 

'Again, we should feel that, as a Christian people, we 
owe a duty to Africa ami her oppressed, children. Although 
a Christian country, our lathers such was the ignorance of 
those times in reaped to the true nature and evils of slavery 
ainned againsl humanity and wronged that unhappy pagan 
continent. We should feel that it is our duty to do all th .t 
Providence now permits, to recompense Africa. And we 
should also feci that it" we neglect our duty in this respect, 
we have the more reason to tremble for our safety, since, 
where much is given, the more is required. To these con- 
si. Icrations, if I remember, I have in some way adverted 
before' 

'I cannot see,' Caroline very properly remarked, 'how 
any one who has the heart of a man, can be indifferent to 
the object ; much less how any Christian can oppose.' 

Mr. L. aihr a moment's pause, here repeated these lines 
from Pierpont, 

" Hear'sl thou, O God, those chains, 
Clanking on Freedom's plains, 

By Christian's wrought ? 
Them who those chaini have worn, 
Christiana from homo have torn, 
Christians have hither borne, 
Christians have bought!" 

' God does hear.' Mr. L. continued, 'and already does 
he who has said M /Ethiopia shall Boon stretch out her hands 

unto God," see her beginning to stretch out her hands, and 
implore his blessing. She lifts one hand to heaven and 
prai S ; with the other she beckons her children to come up 
from their house of bondage. If we awake to our duty 
heaven will be with us; if we will hold back or rcsi-t. we 

may ^till be assured that God is with Africa, tier cause is 
the cause of justice, of religion, of humanity. God will fa- 
vor it, and if we oppose, lie may do it at our cost. It is 
true, the Almighty has not broken the silence of the hea- 



OUR OBLIGATIONS AS A CHRISTIAN' COUNTRY. 275 

vens, to speak in favor of Africa's cause, and of the coloni- 
zation enterprise ; but his approbation has not been with- 
held. Conducted with reference to his will and glory, with 
regard to his authority, having also the moral and religious 
good, as well as the civil and political elevation of the co- 
lonists in view, God will still favor the cause. There can 
be no reasonable doubt that the colonization enterprise is 
approved by him. As the Rev. Dr. Beecher said, " I do not 
think that a society, heaven-moved as this society was, by 
such wisdom as Samuel J. Mills was blessed with, and by 
such wisdom as he commanded into its service, moved on 
by such faith and prayer, and so blessed of heaven, as this 
has been in its past labors, and still is, could have been 
born by wisdom from beneath. As the natives who chased 
Giptain Wilson, the commander of the Duff", until they saw 
him plunge into a stream so full of aligators that if a man 
did put his finger in the water it would be bitten off, and 
who supposed when they saw it, that they need do no more, 
but upon beholding him emerging and climbing up the 
bank on the other side, cried, ' Don't fire, he is God's 
man :' so I would say of this society, it is God's Society. 
In its commencement it was his ; in its progress it has been 
his ; and the station it now occupies in the midst of all the 
difficulties which have grown out of inexperience, and the 
peculiar nature of the subject, shows it to be his ; and so 
does its success in Africa." ' 

' It appears to me,' said Caroline, ' that the favor of 
heaven towards the colonies, and the cause of colonization, 
is very apparent ; and I wonder that any should dare op- 
pose, lest, haply, they "be found fighting against God." 
And then the fact that so many good and wise men who can 
be influenced on this subject by no sinister motives, some 
of whom were once unfavorable to colonization, but on exa- 
mination have changed their minds, arc among the warm 
friends and sell-denying promoters of colonization, is to my 
mind evidence that is almost 



276 A GREAT AND WORTHY ENTERPRISE. 

" Confirmation strong 
" As holy writ." 

A Madison, a Monroe, a Carroll, Judge "Washington, our 
greatly venerated and now lamented good Bishop White 
Robert Ralston, John Marshall, William Wirt, Fitzhugh, 
Rnley, Evarts, Cornelius, AVisner, sainted spirits now in 
heayen with Ashmim, and Mills, and Carey, and Randall, 
and Cox, and Anderson, and others who died in the service 
of Africa ; what a noble list might we write of its friends 
from the catalogue of the lamented dead, whose remem- 
brance is blessed ! And then the living — what an array of 
the names of the great and the good come up before the 
mind !' 

• Many prayers ascend to heaven,' said Mr. L. 'in be- 
half of the colonization enterprise. It is a cause dear to 
many a pious heart.' 



©(Di^EffiSATOi! xxvira, 



"I behold with the sincerest pleasure the commencement of an. 
institution whose progress anil termination will, 1 trust, be attended 
with the most ntoceufo] remits. I shall probably not live to wit- 
ness tlir vast chsngM iii the condition of man, which are about to 
take place iii the world ; but the era is already commenced, its pro- 
is apparent, it! end is certain. * * Where then, my dear Sir, 
will be the last loot-hold of slavery in the world 1 Is it destined tu 
bo the opprobrium of this fine country /" — Lafayette. 

*(«ooi> morning, my children.' 
'Good morning, Pa, 1 said Henry. 
'Good morning, Pa,' said Caroline. 'I have been think- 
ing much of Africa and Colonization, of America and our 



Africa's claims acknowledged. 277 

duty,' said Caroline ; ' and the more I contemplate it, the 
more the work in which the Colonization Society is engag- 
ed, appears so noble and godlike, that I should think it 
would be considered by all as worthy of the noblest ener- 
gies of our nature — worthy the efforts and prayers of every 
patriot and Christian in our land.' 

' We have reason to hope that the time is not far dis- 
tant,' said Mr. L. ' when the benevolent and pious of our 
land will all engage in this work, regarding Africa, more 
than we have hitherto done, as a wide field for missionary 
enterprise, where our most ardent wishes and untiring ef- 
forts should be directed. Every passing year, the condition 
and claims of Africa are more and better understood, and 
the subject is taking deeper and deeper hold on the honor, 
the justice, the patriotic and Christian sympathies of our 
highly favored country. The work will be done — and I 
love to anticipate the day. 

" Where barb'rous hordes on Scythian monntains roam, 
Truth, Mercy, Freedom, yet shall find a home : 
Where'er degraded nature bleeds and pines, 
From Guinea's coast to Sibcr's dreary mines, 
Truth shall pervade th' unfathom'd darkness there, 
And light the dreadful features of despair ; 
There the stern captive spurn his heavy load, 
And ask the image back that heaven bestow'd : 
Fierce in his eyes the fire of valor burn, 
And as the slave departs, the man return." 

Yes, it will be done, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken 
it. It will be done — and Africa, enlightened, regenerated, 
blessed, will remember the Colonization Society as her 
Moses, which led her up from bondage. Forgetting her 
wrongs, obliterating from her mind the dark history of all 
her griefs, and remembering only the blessings received, 
she will look to this happy land, and say, breathing the 
sweet spirit of the gospel of Christ, " There are our Bene- 
factors." ' 



278 A MISSIONARY FIELD. 

' I trust, Pa, the vision will be fulfilled. I love to think 
of Africa as a field of missionary enterprise. It is so ex- 
tensive, and gives promise of such rich blessings.' 

' As a missionary field, 1 said Mr. L. ' it is limited only 
by the confines of one of the largest quarters of the habi- 
table globe. Other missionary operations, although suc- 
cessful to a considerable degree, have not had a success cor- 
responding in extent with the piety and benevolence of 
their aim, or with the amount of means which have been 
applied. Great advantages are united in the colonization 
enterprise. "Every emigrant to Africa is a missionary go- 
ing forth with his credentials, in the holy cause of civiliza- 
tion and religion and free institutions, and the colonies 
which we establish will be so many points from which the 
beams of Christianity and civilization will radiate on all 
that empire of ignorance and sin. These influences must 
})■■ poured in from the western coast. The northern boun- 
dary is within the dominion of the false Prophet, and no 
light is t.. he expected from that direction. If we look to- 
wards its eastern border, we look to the region and shadow 
of death." Colonization deviates from the practice of other 
missionary institutions, and employs as agents the very 
brethren of the people sought to he converted. "It pro- 
t^ send, not one or two pious men into a foreign 
laud, among a different and perhaps suspicious race of 
another complexion ; hut to transport annually, for an in- 
definite number of years, hundreds and thousands of mis- 
sionaries, of the descendants of Africa herself, with the. 
same interests, sympathies, and constitutions of the natives. 
This colony of mi sionaries i-- to operate not alone by the 
preaching of ill.' gospel, hut also by works of ocular de- 
monstration. It will open forests, build towns, erect tem- 
ples of worship, and practically exhihit to the sons of Afri- 
ca the beautiful moral spectacle and the superior advan- 
of our own religious ami social systems. Its means 
are simple; its end is grand and magnificent Christianity 



BRIGHT PROSPECTS. 279 

will beautify Africa, and civilization will enlighten it. The 
Mahometans of the North will feel the influence ; the Pa- 
gans who worship in her forests and groves, will be saved ; 
Abyssinia, now lighted by a few rays of Christian light, 
will feel the full shining of the Sun of righteousness ; idols 
will fall ; human blood will no more be poured from vic- 
tims sacrificed ; the slave-ship will be driven from the 
coast ; and Africa will feel a return of more than Egyp- 
tian greatness — more than Carthagenian glory.* 

' This seems to have been the view which the sainted 
Mills had at the very first. " If," says he, " by pursuing 
the object now in view, a few of the free blacks of good 
character could be settled in any part of the African coast, 
they might be the means of introducing civilization and re- 
ligion among the barbarous nations there, and their settle- 
ment might increase gradually, and some might in suitable 
time go out from that settlement, and from others, and 
prove the occasion of great good." To what work more 
noble could the powers of this whole nation be applied, 
than that of bringing up from darkness, debasement, and 
misery, a race of men, and shedding abroad over the wide 
territories of Africa, the light of science, freedom, and Chris- 

* Touching the advantages for prosecuting this great work in Af- 
rica, it may be remarked ; " access to her coast is easy — by a voyage 
requiring not more than about thirty days', intercourse with her in- 
habitants is practicable. Thousands have been settled on her coasts 
who are well acquainted with our language. There are no cords of 
caste, as in many other heathen countries, to be broken — no regular- 
ly constructed and long standing systems of idolatry to be undermin- 
ed or overturned. The African mind is vacant ground to be entered 
and occupied by Christian truth. On this subject, Mr. Finney re- 
marks, ' the carnal heart is all the missionary has to meet. The Af- 
rican people have no idolatry to be given up. They never think of 
such a thing as worshipping an idol. This very destitution of all 
system of religion preoccupying their mind, opens at once a wide 
door for missionary effort.' The African temper is mild — the Afri- 
can character more pliable to the influences of the gospel, than that 
of most, if not of any other heathen community." 



280 EMANCIPATION NOT OCR ONLY DUTT. 

tianity. Whilst humanity points to the thousands of tho 
victims of the -dave-ti-ade. and conjures us to aid in its sup- 
preasioQ — and whilst patriotism calls us to seek our ooun- 
trv'sg-od, and wash our hands as a nation of the guilt of 
slavery; religion speaks with Loftier tone and instructs us 
that all men are "one flesh" — that we are brethren— that 
he who loves not his brother, cannot love God — that all are 
equally bound to the service of the Almighty — that all are 
equally entitled to the good offices of each other, and that 
he who would not lav down his life for his brethren, has 
not ascended to the height of the Saviour's charity. The 
day will come when Christian principles shall rule the 
world, and Africa will be a bright and happy part of the 
Saviour's dominions.' 

Henry here started a difficulty on which he had thought 
much. '"We will admit,' said he, ' that emancipation can- 
not liberate us from the responsibility that rests upon us; 
that we must do what we can to provide for our colored 

population in a country where they shall be truly free; 
and that we must be satisfied with nothing abort of the anni- 
hilation of the slave-trade, and the regeneration of Africa. 
But is it not to be feared that there may be a lack of men- 
tal capacity tor self-government, which will after all. render 
it impossible for the blacks to continue a free, civilized, 
and independent nation, and make abortive all plans for 
their separate and independent existence '.' 

'Recollect, Henry.' said his father, 'that but a few 
years since the colored population of St. Domingo was 
sunk in all die degradation and ignorance and improvidence 
of slavery. They took the work of emancipation into their 
own hands, and effecting their deliverance, established a 

regular government, enacted wholesome laws, ably admi- 
nistered those, laws, and commenced a march of improve- 
ment which promises happy results: a bright example of 
wisdom and prudence, it' we consider that example in con- 
nexion with their former debasement.' 



OUR DUTY AS A GOVERNMENT. 281 

4 But, oh !' said Caroline, with energy, ' ' twas a bloody, 
cruel struggle.' 

' Yes,' said Mr. L. 'there were scenes of violence attend- 
ing it, which every benevolent heart deplores. The very 
thought of it makes one shudder.' 

' And yet, Pa,' said Henry, ' we cannot but respect the 
mental capacity and the energy of character which brought 
the final result. Why, Pa, since the stain of slavery is na- 
tional, and we as a nation are so deeply concerned in its re- 
moval, may not appropriations be made from the national 
treasury to aid in the object? If our national Congress 
would agree to sustain the expense of the removal of the 
blacks who feel disposed to colonize, and to relieve the 
owners of slaves of a part of that sacrifice which must be 
consequent on relinquishing their claims, it appears to me 
that the work might proceed with as much dispatch at least 
as would be consistent with the safety of the settlements.' 

'Mr. L. replied, 'Several of our most eminent states- 
men have recommended the appropriation of the income 
arising from the sale of the public lands, to the aid of Afri- 
can colonization. Mr. Madison has suggested that if doubts 
are entertained by any as to the power of Congress to ap- 
propriate the national funds to the object, the requisite 
authority might easily be obtained by an amendment of 
the Constitution. It is to be presumed that the States both 
North and South would approve the measure. In my own 
view, there is no doubt of the right of appropriation. The 
public money has been expended in aid of colonization, 
and why may it not be still further appropriated? Mr. 
Jefferson said, in 1811, in a letter to Mr. Clay, in reference 
to a colony hi Africa, "Indeed, nothing is more to be wish- 
ed than that the United States would themselves undertake 
to make such an establishment on the coast of Africa." 
His various correspondence and efforts in relation to this 
matter, clearly show what were his views. And, said Mr. 
Monroe, "As to the people of color, if the people of the 



282 6TEAMERS TO LIBERIA. 

southern States wish to emancipate them, (and I never -will 
consent to emancipate them without sending them out of 
the country.) they may invite the United Stales to assist 
us; but without such an invitation, the other States ought 
ii"!. and will not, interfere. 1 am for marching on with the 
greatest circumspection upon this subject." These distin- 
guished men seem to have had no insuperable difficulty in 
regard to the constitutional question of the right of appro- 
priation.' 

Said Mr. L. 'The enterprise now in contemplation, of 
steamers of the largest, class, holding the same relation to 
our government, as do the lines to California and to Europe, 
affording rapid and cheap passage for any number of emi- 
grants designing to go to Liberia,* is one of the encouraging 
Signs of the times. Add to this, the &Ct that the Stales are 

moving with unprecedented zeal in favor of meeting the 
expenses of colonizing all colored people who. in their re- 
Bpective borders, maj desire to go, and we are assured that 

the great work is but just begun. 

Henry remarked, 'The < imercial interest of our own 

country. 1 should think, might be greatly promoted by the 
establishing of such communication with Liberia ]" 

'Yes,' said Mr. L. ' The. establishment of prosperous 
colonies on the Western Coasl of Africa will, in time, 

greatly augment the commerce of OUT own country. British 

commerce with Africa, now amounts to no less than five 
millions sterling, or about *2.">,000,000 per annum. And 
the belief is confidently entertained in Great Britain, that 
an immense commerce may beopened with that continent, 
b\ putting an end to the slave-trade, and stimulating the 
natives to the arts of peace. It is calculated that England 
has received, altogether, 1200,000,000 of gold from Africa. 

* These steamers, the report of the Naval Committee in Con- 
gress,(Hon. F. P. Stanton, chairman,) states, will be able each time 
from 1000 to l,. r )00 passengers; or from 8,000 to 12,000 per 
unnuin. 



OUR COMMERCIAL INTEREST. 283 

Liberia is adjacent to the " gold coast." The average im- 
port into Liverpool of palm oil, for some years past, has 
been, at least 15,000 tons, valued at £400,000 sterling. 
It may be produced in any quantity on the coast. Ivory, 
procurable at all points ; coffee, superior to the best Java 
or Mocha, which is cultivated with great ease, the tree 
bearing fruit thirty or forty years, and averaging ten 
pounds to the shrub annually ; cam-wood, and other dye- 
woods; gums, pepper, ginger, arrow-root, indigo, tama- 
rinds, oranges, lemons, limes, and many other articles 
which mi" ht be enumerated, make an ap-o-re"ate that show 
that the commerce of Africa is worthy the attention of the 
United States. The soil is so amazingly fertile, and the 
seasons so prolific, that two crops of corn, sweet potatoes, 
and other vegetables, are raised in one year ; and the yield 
is larger than on the best soil in the United States.* An 
immense market may be opened for the exchange and sale 
of the innumerable products of our soil and manufacture ; 
for Liberia is, in fact, the door of Africa. It has been 
found that those who are now engaged in the commerce of 
Africa are very unwilling to disclose the extent of that 
commerce and its profits, f 

* The Rev. J. B. Pinney, some time governor of Liberia, says, 
"Our garden Lima bean, I have seen covering by its vines a good 
sized tree, where it had been growing and bearing constantly for 
nine years ! The cotton plant grows for nine or ten years." Says A. 
F. Russel, Esq. a highly respectable citizen of Golah, Liberia, who 
has been there for years, " A coffee tree planted and reared, will 
yield its increase, two crops a year, year after year, bringing its re- 
ward with it." 

t J. H. B. Latrobe, Esq. in a recent speech, says, "They who 
will turn their attention to the subject, will find that it increases 
with a rapidity that surpasses belief. A single house in Salem has 
twenty vessels engaged in that trade ; and whole towns in Eng- 
land are supported by supplying the demand of the Africans for the 
fashions. The other day I picked up a package of blue and white 
cotton goods, and satin stripes — the latest samples for the spring 



284 SUPPRESSION' OF bLAVK-TRADK. 

' Has there not,' said Henry, ' been considerable acqui- 
sition of territory to Liberia since it became an independent 
Republic?' 

'Yes,' said Mr. L. 'By a dispatch of 17th May, 1850, 
from President Roberta, it appears that the tar-tamed ter- 
ritory of Gallinas, has been secured to Liberia. It had been 
for years the principal depot of the slave-trade on the coast. 
The tratlie in all this extensive territory is abolished, and 
lawful commerce now substituted from Sierra Leone to 
Cape Palmas. Churches, schools, and the habitations of a 
Christian, enlightened, free people, are now to mark the spot 
where has stood the barracoOB ofthe slave-trader for one hun- 
dred years! The marauding chief has bound his last victim; 
the haggard Lazarone slayer hasrivetted his last fetter; the 
shark at the mouth of the bar has fed on his last slave gang; 
the scene, heretofore of the greatest horrors, is henceforth a 
fruit of the free and independent Republic of Liberia!' 

' The slave-trade, you have observed, has continued,' said 
Henry, * to the present time, except on those parts of the 
coast where possession has been obtained by purchase, and 
colonies have been planted : may we not hope that the en- 
tire Coast will yet be redeemed from the e.xeeraUe tratlie'?' 

'Yes.' said Mr. L. 'with the men-of-war of two powerful 
nations stationed on the coast, sustained at an enormous ex- 
I . : se, the slave-trade has been carried on. To illustrate the 
manner of the slavers' • access, and the defeat of the vigilance 
of both England and the United States, a single slave-factory; 

fashions of the African market .'" The same gentleman remarked 
facetiously, "There are enough of feet in Africa wanting shoes, to 
k« |« the lap-stones of New-England ringing lor the next century." 
(lie Menu not to be poeted up in the p*og*eej of improvement in 
New-England manufacture ; the lap-atone baa long rince been super- 
ceded l>y machinery.) A light-house, at Oape Palmaa was erected 

Utely by the .Man land State Society, and now money received from 
vessels passing that light, forms an important portion of the means 
to pay the civil list of that colony. 



A SCHEME OF BENEVOLENCE. 285 

Well known and long watched, in sight of which armed ves- 
sels lay often for weeks at a time, watching the slaver hang- 
ing around and waiting his opportunity, shipped in two 
months, not long since, more than a thousand slaves. The 
moment the armed vessels moved from their position, the 
slaver seized his chance. The vessel was American, a few 
hours before the slaves were shipped ! Dashing in, he took 
on board his cargo, and, before morning, was far away out 
of danger.' 

' Give to Liberia the means of purchasing the territory, 
and extending its influence, and in less than twenty-four hours 
the slave-factory is broken up ; the slaves collected in it for 
shipment are liberated ; and the slavers, if they do not speedi- 
ly decamp, are hanged. The natives learn that there are bet- 
ter and honest pursuits in which they may engage; and 
mingling with the colonists, come to regard the slave-trade 
with horror. They rise at once in the scale of intelligence 
and civilization, and become useful and happy members of 
the human family. And all this is accomplished at less cost 
than it required to pay the expense of the men-of-war for a 
single month !' 

' Could any thing,' said Caroline, ' more beautifully illus- 
trate the superiority of Colonization over every other means 
which have been tried for the suppression of the infamous 
traffic V 

' I love,' said Caroline, ' to think it possible that the day 
will come, and that it is already near, when our country will 
find every obstacle removed for the free exercise of our ut- 
most benevolence. I long to see our country free from sla- 
very's stain ; I long to see the children of Africa go forth by 
the free consent of the South, and by the friendly aid of our 
whole countiy, from their house of bondage ; and I confess I 
long as much, or more, to see Africa free through the influ- 
ence of the gospel. I was never accustomed, until these con- 
versations, to look upon colonization as a missionary enter- 
prise. But now, viewed in this light alone, it appears to me 



280 OBJECTION'S. 

one of the grandest schemes of true Christian benevolence 
that was ever undertaken by man.' 

'Colonization,' Mr. L. rejoined, 'proposes liberty to Af- 
rica and her children in a nobler sense than is generally con- 
sidered. It proposes freedom, indeed, from physical bond- 
age; and. although not by any compulsory or objectionable 
process, which surely should greatly recommend it to all 
friends of peace and justice, it proposes to secure great tem- 
poral blessings to a now enslaved people, and to a continent ; 
but it proposes more — a liberty 

" unsung 
Bv poets, and by senators nnpraised ; 

Which monarchs cannot give, nor all the powers 
Of earth ami lull confederate take away, 
Which, whoso feels, shall he enslaved no more; 
"lis liberty of heart derived from heaven.*'' 

The conversation was now closed with the understand- 
ing that it should be resumed on the morrow. 



(DDrry^MTion sryim. 



H The God of heaven, I believe from my very anal, is with ua. 
Under -in h auspices we cannot rail. With seal, energy, and perse* 
verance, we shall sobdao all difficulties and ultimately realize ev< ry 
hope." — Henri/ Clay. 

IIknkv observed that he had 'noticed, on looking over 
the anti-colonization publications, that it is objected that, 
even if funds arc furni »hed, it will he impossible to transp rt 
bo great numbers to Africa as the present and rapidly in- 



MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. 287 

creasing colored population of our country, vessels not being 
sufficiently numerous for the purpose.'* 

Mr. L. replied, ' I know that this is said ; and it, perhaps, 
strikes the mind of the casual observer with some force. 
The annual increase of our colored population, 80,000 or 
more being added every year, is great ; and the annual in- 
crease may be more than 100,000 before the necessary ar- 
rangements can be made for the removal of a much greater 
number per annum than hitherto. But with adequate means, 
and under the protection of the national government, the 
transportation of emigrants will become a great and impor- 
tant branch of business. Our navigators will provide ships 
enough, when sure of a reasonable recompense. A profita- 
ble commerce will be opened with Africa for her important 
native productions ; and the growing colonies will themselves 
navigate the seas, claiming a share of the honor and profits 
of the transportation. Increasing numbers of the free will 
also, unaided, find their way to the land of their fathers, and 
" having formed establishments of their own, and in their 
turn visiting our shores with crews of colored men, enter- 
prising and prosperous, will draw others after them " to the 
then happy and growing colonies from which they come. 

'How many, suppose you, are every year transported 
into Canada and to this country, from among the refuse 
population of Great Britain and Ireland? Thousands of 
these are sent in crowds and landed upon our shores as 
forlorn outcasts, f We would do better by Africans than 
Great Britain, with all her boasted philanthropy, does 



* It has been well asked. '• If it be a fact that twenty millions 
have been torn away from Africa by the hand of avarice and cruelty, 
cannot the generosity and kindness of a Christian nation carry back 
three millions?" 

t In 1848 the emigration of Irish and Germans chiefly into the 
single port of New-York was 191,009 ; a tithe only of all who came. 
If the efforts of this Society, sustained and encouraged by the gene- 
ral government, should in five years accomplish half as much as has 



283 MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION. 

even for her own children. We would place them under 
far more favorable circumstances. And our resources 
are fully equal to all that we can desire, if the national 
aid may only he obtained. United States' ships of war 
might be advantageously employed in this service, in time 
of peace, transporting under the stars and stripes of the 
national Hag. to the land of their ancestors, the sons of in- 
jured Africa, where they may enjoy the full blessings of 
religion and liberty. It would be a noble service, and an 
honor to our flag. 

' It is true, we do not expect to remove a world with- 
out preparing for the operation; but the transportation 
of our colored population can be effected, and expeditious- 
ly too, in comparison with the magnitude of the work. 
Great things are usually accomplished slowly. Liberia has 
advanced far more rapidly than did the infant colonies of 
this country* It met with obstacles, in its progress, and so 
did these colonies j and we may well ask. what great human 
undertaking was ever exempt from difficulties! Are we 
referred to Liberia's bills of mortality 1 A large portion of 
the deaths were attributable to rash exposure, and other 
imprudencies, under the action of an untried sun, and sub- 
ject to the action of a strange climate. Another cause is 

been accomplished in Ireland by individual action ami l>y slight 
governmental aid, in the em ig r a t i on of persona from Ireland, the 
whole work would be done. 

* The sl»w increase of a colony at its commencement is the dic- 
tate of prudence. "The French colony at Cayenne was begnn, as 
that nation expresses it, on a grand scale; 12,000 settlers embarked, 
ami almost all perished. A lew people form the beat perm for a 
colony. Doable or treble their numbers every year, and yon will sen 
them thrive. Poor in a larger population than can be provided for, 
and the whole mnsl perish. In this, nature pointa out oar course: 

the si t from an acorn rises at first slowly ; but as it acquires 

Strength it gains beyond Conception, at every animal ring, till tho 
insignificant fruits of cue snort season sees numerous generations 
enjoy its ample shade." — Repository. 



COMPARED WITU OTHER ENTERPRISES. 280 

probably to be found in the destitute condition of some of 
the colonists, "who having been just released from bondage, 
had neither the foresight nor the means requisite for a suit- 
able outfit, leaving them in a situation of exposure which I 
am sure the experience and wisdom and benevolence of the 
friends of colonization now guard against. Still the colony 
can triumphantly challenge a comparison with the bills of 
mortality of other colonies, in their early history, on any 
continent. Where were the first settlers of Jamestown e'er 
the four seasons had rolled by % In their graves. Where 
were a majority of those who landed at Plymouth Rock, 
before the rigors of the first winter were past ? They were 
numbered with the dead. The same must be confessed of 
other colonies. True, they were a sacrifice to public good. 
So the event is now regarded by their posterity and the 
world ; and so the lesser trials which Liberia has encoun- 
tered will be viewed when the page of history shall bear 
fair record of the past and the present, and of a few years 
to come. 

' A writer in the Boston Recorder has remarked, '" Men 
may sacrifice life in the pursuits of gain at Havana, at Cal- 
cutta, and at any other unhealthy spot on the globe, most 
prodigally, and no complaint is made. But if a number of 
individuals fall a sacrifice in a benevolent enterprise, in an 
effort to pour the light of eternal life on dark and forlorn 
Africa, why it is a criminal waste of human life. But no, 
it is not so. Ashmun lived only six years after he went 
to Africa, but he lived nobly. Mills lived hardly six months, 
but Mills lived not in vain ; his example shines with no 
feeble lustre ; his voice speaks from the depths of tho At- 
lantic, and it will speak till Africa is free. Anderson, and 
Lott Carey, and Randall, and Skinner, were soon cut down, 
but their names will live till time shall be no longer." ' 

Caroline here remarked, ' if we look at missionary ope- 
rations in India, the sacrifice of life has been as great as in 
Liberia ; has it not, Pa V 

13 



i290 GREAT THINGS ACCOMPLISHED SLOWLY. 

Mr. L. replied, ' the average life of the missionaries of 
the American Board, in India, has been but Ave years. 
Flake, and Newall, and Hall, and Parsons, and other 
choice spirits were soon numbered with the dead. But 
though they found an early grave in heathen lands, and 
the benevolent mourn their loss, and Christianity weeps 
at the desolations of paganism, we do not cease to aim 
at the conversion of the heathen world. India is not 
abandoned, because trials are there endured in founding 
the church. Liberia is to the colored man a land of pro- 
mise, compared with what India is to missionaries from 
this country.' 

Caroline said, ' I do not think that it can be reasonably 
objected to colonization that its success has been slow, for 
two reasons; one is, as appears, that such is not the fact; 
but, if it were, another reason is, that the same objection 
would be against every good cause, even against the Chris- 
tian religion.' 

'True, Caroline,' Mr. L. replied; 'notwithstanding the 
toils of its friends for near two thousand years, and the 
blood of its many martyrs shod in the cause, even the 
knowledge of our holy religion is confined to a compara- 
tively small part of the human family. ' 

'Another objection,' said Henry, 'which I have heard, 
is that, if all the Macks would go to Africa, they would not 
find room there for so many. 1 

'This objection, 1 am mire,' said his father, 'can never 
be seriously urged, unless through extreme ignorance. 
What are three millions of people to the vast extent of the 
African continent, stretching 4,800 miles from North to 
South, and 4000 miles from Bast to West I They would 
not be more than would be needed to help civilize and 
christianize the benighted natives, and establish among them 
arts, and commerce, and agriculture. Africa, when we con- 
sider its extent, its variety of soil, and capability of sustain- 
ing an immense population, is thinly peopled. Colonization, 



OPPOSITION WRONG. 291 

it should be remembered, is not necessarily confined to 
Liberia and its vicinity. It is a lamentable reflection,' said 
Mr. L. ' that, charity leads us to think, for the want of a 
faithful examination of the subject, the most serious obsta- 
cles which the cause has met in its progress have been the 
untenable and oft-refuted objections, bitter opposition and 
severe denunciations of professed friends of Africa in our 
own country. It grieves me that it should be so, since 
among them are some whom I greatly esteem, notwith- 
standing this their very great error.' 

' I do not see, Pa, how any who understand this subject, 
(and all ought to understand it.) can oppose. If the Coloni- 
zation Society cannot, in their labors of benevolence, do all 
that is needful to be done, and as soon as is desirable, yet 
why should good men object to their attempting all that 
is really practicable, and that would be, if accomplished, 
really useful V 

' Professor Silliman has gone so for as to remark,' said 
Mr. L. ' that all efforts on the part of the friends of Afri- 
can improvement to discountenance and oppose voluntary 
African colonization, are morally wrong, and can be called 
by no one milder name than systematized opposition 
against the whole African cause, embracing slaves, free 
colored people, and the native nations of Africa.' 

' Could the demands of many be realized, and the color- 
ed race be made free in this country, however well they 
may intend, I am sure they would at once and continually 
have cause to mourn over those who are now slaves, and 
in their labors of love would find ample employment in 
visits of mercy to our jails and penitentiaries, and to the 
haunts of vice and abodes of poverty. They would find 
the country involved in great ruin ; the colored people in 
great wretchedness, and their very success would be their 
own defeat, so far as benevolent interest is concerned. But 
their wishes, I am morally certain, cannot be realized, even 
though rivers of blood should be shed ; and the longer the 



292 SHALL NOT AFRICA I1E CHRISTIANIZED. 

duration, and the greater the fierceness of their opposition, 
the longer do they perpetuate the evils of slavery in our 
land, and the Btronger do they rivet the chains of the slave, 
and the heavier the calamity which they bring both on the 
bond and the free, especially the slave and free blacks. 

•And then, let them say. shall not Africa be civilized 
] d converted to God? 

"While on the distant Hindoo shore 
Messiah's cross is reared, 
While Pagan votaries bow no more 
With idol blood besmeared — 

While Palestine again doth hear 

The gospel's joyful sound, 
While Islam's crescents disappear 

From Calvary's holy ground — 

Say, shall not Afric's fated land 

With oews of grace be blest 7 
Sav, shall ^Ethiopia's band 

Enjoy the promia'd rest?" 

'They -who have considered colonization in its influence 
on our own country only, and on the blacks that are in it, 
have taken a very inadequate view of its amazing interest 
and unbounded extent. If the plan fail, or be hindered by 
opposition, they who oppose this great and good work, I 
do believe, will have a tremendous account to give.' 

'I do not see, Pa, that the Colonization Society and the 
Abolition or Anti-slavery Society, are associations of ne- 
cessarily conflicting Lntere »t s. 

'They are not, and there Bhould be n<> controversy be- 
tween them. " The cause of emancipation will advance as 
fast as means of emigration and of comfortable settlement 

in Africa or in other lands are provided. Cut off this hope, 
and remove this security, and the Blave-holding States will 

refuse to add to the mass of free people of color, already, 
in their view, too numerous for safety." They will resolve 



A NOBLE BRANCH OF BENEVOLENCE. 293 

on making more strong their chains, hopeless of relief, to 
guard against a greater calamity than appears to them 
even slavery itself; and "linked in full military prepara- 
tion and in wakeful vigilance," they will await the issue. 
" In the meantime, the slightest appearance or even suspi- 
cion of revolt will be visited by prompt and sanguinary re- 
tribution." Thus, " anxiety will shroud the domestic circle, 
of the slave-holder in gloom, and despair will settle upon: 
the dark mind of the slave" — until, perhaps, some awful ex- 
plosion shall come ! 

' There is one objection to the American Colonization 
Society which, it appears to me, may with equal propriety 
be urged against the benevolent institutions of the day ge- 
nerally, and the unreasonableness of which is too apparent 
to justify any misapprehension of the force of the objection, 
or to permit its further use ; that is, that the Colonization 
Society does not itself engage in the work of emancipation, 
urging the duty of immediate abolition. This truly is to 
object that one great and gcod institution, which, with great 
sacrifice, zeal, perseverance, and success, pursues a great 
and worthy object, is not another institution, aye, quite an- 
other thing, which it never professed to be. Why may not 
the same be objected to all Missionary Associations, Edu- 
cation Societies, Bible Societies, Tract Societies, &c. that 
their professed object and direct aim is not abolition 1 They 
are formed for the accomplishment of great and good ob- 
jects ; but they have nothing to do with an interference in 
the domestic relations which they find existing in our coun- 
try. They would send the gospel to all, without distinc- 
tion of color, that arc perishing for lack of vision — they 
would assist in raising up and qualifying the pious and self- 
denying to preach the everlasting gospel to a world that 
lieth in wickedness — they would put into the hands of every 
son and daughter of Adam the Word of Life — they would 
scatter abroad, by proper means, that light which may guide 
in the paths of peace and lead to holiness, happiness, and 



294 BRIGHT PKOSPECTS. 

heaven ; but they have each their distinct object in view, 
whilsl they are but Beveral parts of one great system of 
Christian benevolence. The American Colonization Society 
aims, as one branch of the great bj stem of that benevolence 
which the Spirit of God lias awakened in Christendom, to 
open an asylum for the oppressed in our land, encouraging 
voluntary emancipation, and to put an end to the slave- 
trade ami the oppression of Africa by planting Christian co- 
lonies upon her shores. Is not the object great and good? 
Is it reasonable to oppose a good object because, forsooth, 
it is not another good object? Why should so much oppo- 
sition centre upon colonization > 

'Those who constitute the Anti-slavery and Colonization 
Societies, I may confidently say, without at all approving 
of all the principles of the ion nor, much less of all their 
language and measures, are agreed for the most part, in 
their views of slavery as a great evil, and in respect to the 
desirableness of its termination; and disagree in respect to 
the best, and proper, and most effectual means by which, un- 
d< r ail the circumstances, its extinction shall be consum- 
mated. With an honesl difference of opinion on this sub- 
ject, surely each may move under its own banner without 
molestation of the other, each in its own sphere, at its own 
proper work: in the use of all proper means, and ultimate- 
ly, indulging the spirit of kindness and love, and pursuing 
lawful and honorable measures, they may join together in 
the celebration of a glorious triumph.' 

• I trust, Pa,' said C. 'that brighl days are yet before us, 
and that great and happy results will crown the efforts of the 
true friends of Africa. 1 certainly do not see how any can 

oppose the colonization cause, nor yet, indeed, how they 
can refuse to sustain its efforts.' 

'Should the cause of colonization fail,' said Mr. L. 'those 

efforts whieh have hitherto been erowned with such BJgnal 

success bring discouraged, or through opposition rendered 
fruitless, I am sure that the fond hopes of many a patriot 



THE CAUSE 18 OF GuD. 295 

— the devout prayers of many a Christian — the awakened 
sensibilities of many a master — and the delighted visions 
of many a slave — will be most sadly disappointed. 

' Suppose, for a moment, this to be : — the American 
Colonization Society has opened an asylum for the oppress- 
ed — s he points to a luxuriant soil, to a genial climate — with 
eratitude, she tells how God has turned the hearts of the 
heathen towards the colony — thousands press upon her, 
anxious to depart to the land of their lathers — masters are 
ready to permit thousands more to swell their numbers — 
and she calls to us to help Africa, to help America. The 
voice of opposition and bitter reproach is heard ! Some 
fold their arms with listless unconcern — others are dis- 
heartened and cease from their wonted benevolence — and 
the opposition triumphs ! That wisdom and philanthropy 
which have been successfully exerted in devising the plan 
which has caused this hitherto soul-cheering progress in the 
cause of liberty, humanity, and religion, and in unfolding 
the. resources for its final accomplishment, has all been in 
vain ! That territory so extensive, so salubrious, so fertile, 
must be yielded again to savage beasts of prey — those 
flourishing towns, fair villages, peaceful habitations, must 
be no longer tenanted by a happy new-born race of free- 
men — those farms must be laid waste — that commerce must 
close — those lights of religion and science, churches and 
schools, must be extinguished — those banners of freedom, 
and those impregnable fortresses over which they wave, 
and that free republican government and the press which 
vindicates the righteous cause, must cease — those nearly 
5.000 souls charmed with a Pisgah view of promised bless- 
ings of learning, freedom, and religion, must be exiled from 
their schools, their temples of justice, their churches dedi- 
cated to God, and from all they now hold dear — and Afric's 
dreary coast must again reverberate the deafening yell of 
despair wrung from many an agonized heart! Would this 
be a blessing? or say, would it be an awful calamity? A 



290 REGENERATION OF A CONTINENT. 

calamity f Why, but because the Colonization Society, by 
the blessing of God, lias effected this cheat goud? 

'And now, may this Society, which has been enabled to 

do so much, and whose prospects are so cheering, be per- 
mitted to go on with more than arithmetical progression in 
its work of mercy. It will, I am confident, never cause to 
humanity a tear; it may, and 1 doubt not, will give joy 
and happiness to millions? Shall it not live? — shall it not 
be permitted to prosper? It is preparing the way for the 
final redemption of Africa, and for the universal sway of 
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus ! Who will presume to 
stay its ])royress? To detach from its holy influence is 
treason to ocr cocntkv — most cn.mercifcl to Africa 

SACRILEGE IN THE VIEW OF HEAVEN ! But tO aid thi3 

cause, is high honor — a most distinqcished privilege!' 



CQFOSmSMTOH ZXHX, 



"In vain yo limit mind's unwearied spring: 

"What! can ye lull the (ringed winds nsleep, 

"Ancst the rolling world, or chain the deep ?" — Campbell. 

Henry and Caroline were glad, this evening, to have 
the opportunity of resuming the consideration of the 
claims of Africa, the blessings of Colonization, and the pro- 
spective regeneration of a Continent; for they had come 
to f,r] tnosl impressively the force of the sentiment which, 
in part, we have prefixed as a title to this volume: The 
Redemption of Africa, the Salvation of our own Country, 



OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. &# { 

and the Glory of America. The deep interest which they 
felt in the subject led them to hang upon their father's lips 
with a zeal and devotion worthy of those who seek with 
candid minds and benevolent feelings for instruction upon 
questions of such paramount importance. 

Henry suggested to his father that both Caroline and 
himself would like to be informed further in regard to the 
objections of opposers; and likewise in regard 'to the in- 
fluence of Colonization in promoting emancipation, sup- 
pressing the slave-trade, and extending Christianity. 

'I will endeavor,' said Mr. L. 'to touch upon these sub- 
jects with fairness and impartiality. 

'One prominent objection made to the Colonization 
scheme, is, that it unites some of conflicting views and in- 
terests. The objection, you will perceive, is directed to 
the singleness and simplicity of its aim. 

'It has been said that inasmuch as the Colonization So- 
ciety has for its object simply the removal of the free people 
of color, with their own consent, to Africa ; and is supported 
in this enterprise " by one class of people for one reason, 
and by other classes for other reasons," the action of the 
Society, " being suited to the views of all," it is liable to 
suspicion. 

' On the other hand, the friends of colonization think that 
the singleness and simplicity of its aim give it great and 
manifest advantages. 

'What though its aim being one, and steadily pursuing 
that one object, it finds favor from those of somewhat oppo- 
site views, and, in some respects conflicting interests; must 
it therefore, they ask, be abandoned'? Let it be so, that 
some give it countenance whose philanthropy is question- 
able, whose piety has no existence, whose motives are si- 
nister, still, if the object of the Society is good, and the end 
to be desired by the philanthropist, the patriot, and Christian, 
ought we not rather to rejoice that the cause of benevolence 
and patriotism is promoted] "The presiding spirit, the 

13* 



298 OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

life and soul of the institution has ever been, and ever must 
be, Christian principle. The patriot and the statesman are 
deeply concerned in its success, and they cannot withhold 
their influence and co-operation; but it commends itself 

especially to the Christian heart, for there it finds a chord 
that vibrates in unison with its noble design. The most 
active and efficient friends of the scheme have been those 
whom Christianity claims as her own."'* 

'Further the opposcrs of colonization say that to advo- 
cate the scheme "on the ground of kindness to the people 

* "The patrons of Ibis enterprise doubtless contemplate its cha- 
racter through different mediums, and yield it their friendliness ouder 
the influence of different motives. So various are the objects which 
ii is adapted and intended to accomplish, lhat one may regard it with 
favor for one reason, and another for a different reason, while eacb 
may fee] thai ihe aspect in which he views it, and the particular con* 
sideration which appeals effectively to his generous sympathy, are 
of sufficient importance tojasl ify bis unreserved co-operation. Hence, 
among the variety of reasons that secure the concurrence of its nu- 
merous friends, we find ihe foreign reason and the domestic — the 
southern reason and the northern — die political, the commercial and 
the religious reason. 

" But there is one patron of this enterprise, whose discerning cyo 
contemplates it in every aspect, and whose candor appreciates all 
its designs and tendencies, and in whose bosom all these reasons fire 
blended into one, and whose kindness hesitates not to express t lie 
cordial wish, and extend the libera] hand, and offer the fervent 
prayer lor its enlarged success. Her name is Christianity. It is 
becanse the objects of this Society are good, that she approves them — 
and because they are both great and good, that .-In- fosters them with 
her patronage. Contemplating the final removal from our country's 
beon of a stain which is hourly growing deeper and broader 
and darker — and designing to alleviate the wretchedness of the free 

colored population, anil place them in circumstances favorable to 
their physical and moral improvement — and aiming at the elevation 
of the black to a platform parallel with the white man, she delights 
in i's high purposes, for thej are kindred to her ow u — and she would 

be recreant to her professions, did she not extend to it her cordial 
encouragement, and sanction it with her choicest benedictions*" — 
Rev. C. Slowt. 



OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 290 

of color, «as a means of removing the free from prejudice 
which they cannot rise against here," which, say they, " is 
the motive with many, is to sacrifice at least two other 
objects — the missionary cause in Africa, and the extinction 
of slavery at home. For when we once admit the con- 
clusion that the free people of color cannot be elevated here 
to an equal enjoyment of the civil and social principles of 
our institutions, you cease to labor for it. Your philan- 
thropy then aims at the removal of the whole body of the 
free colored people. But the removal of such a body, so 
little improved by education and religion, to a heathen 
shore, cannot but be prejudicial to the spread of Christi- 
anity there." 

'Again say they, "the effect of colonization is to fasten 
the bonds of the slave — for slave-holders avail themselves 
of the facilities which it affords, to drain off the excess of 
the free blacks, that they may oppress, with the greater 
safety, those who are still in bondage!" This last objection 
has been suggested, in substance, even by one to whose 
philanthropy and benevolence, few who know him, would 
hesitate to yield the tribute of their cheerful testimony, 
and the purity of whose motive it is confidently believed is 
above suspicion. He says of African colonization, " It is a 
question, whether it should be patronized, whilst American 
slavery endures. Is it right to induce a portion of the 
colored people of this country to turn their backs on their 
brethren in bonds ; to go to a returnless distance from 
them, and to enter upon the creation of new interests and 
attachments, which are calculated to efface the recollection 
of those left behind them % We must remember, too, that 
this is the only portion of that unhappy population, which 
is at liberty to remonstrate against the cruelty and wicked- 
ness of oppression, and to plead for the exercise of mercy. 
Those for whom they are required to open their mouths, 
are not permitted to speak for themselves — and we must 
remember too, that amongst the^e dumb ones, whose cause 



oOO OBJKCITlONd CONSIDERED. 

we should thereby deprive ofits most natural advocates, arc, 
in innumerable instances, the lathers, mothers, children, 
brothers, sisters, of those whom we propose to carry away. 
Were we, our families, and neighbors, to be carried captive 
into a foreign land, and were you and I to be relased from 
bondage, would it be natural and right in us to separate our. 
selves by thousands of miles and for ever, from our friends 
and kindred, still pining under the yoke of slavery ? or 
■would it not be a more humane and suitable use of our 
liberty to cleave to those beloved sufferers — to study the 
consolation of their aching hearts — and to be getting up 
every righteous appeal in their behalf to their guilty op- 
pressors I I would not say that there is in the considera- 
tion I here present, a fatal objection to the colonization 
scheme. There is certainly, however, enough in it to lead 
us to inquire whether we are clearly doing right, and as we 
•would be done by, when we labor to induce our free peo- 
ple of color to desert their enslaved brethren. There is 
certainly enough in it to excuse the following resolution, 
(of certain blacks,) — '■Resolved, That we never will separate 
ourselves voluntarily from the slave population of our 
country. They are our brethren by the ties of consanguinity 
of suffering, and of wrong; and we feel that there is moro 
virtue in suffering privations "with them, than enjoying 
fancied advantages for a season.'" 

'These objections are thus stated at some length, for can- 
dor requires it. But in reference to thern, it may be pro- 
per to ask, whether the one objection does not in a good 
degree nullify the other 1 If the colored people to whom 
the Society would afford facilities for removing to Africa, 
are of such signal service at home, and so essentia] to their 
" brethren in bonds," might they not be greatly useful in 
Liberia I Or, is the avowed object of their detention to 
secure their increase, and encourage their co-operation with 
the slave stimulated bj the arguments and persuasions and 
flatteries of a portion of the whites, until fearful and bloody 



OBJECTIONS CONSIDEKED. 301 

scenes shall be the result? It is believed by many that 
there is but one possible way in which, opposing coloniza- 
tion, the blacks can be led to expect that they shall expedite 
the abolishment of slavery in our land, or that they can be 
of essential benefit to their " brethren in bonds," by re- 
maining here ; and that is, by the system of compulsion 
which has been alluded to. For how will the free blacks 
" remonstrate with the holders of slaves ? — how appeal in 
behalf of their enslaved brethren, to their guilty oppres- 
sors ?" Will their remonstrances be suffered at the South ? 
— will their appeals be listened to ? Or, are the blacks who 
are already free to "remonstrate" indirectly, and to "ap- 
peal " indirectly, to those who are termed " guilty oppres- 
sors," through the influence of the people in the northern 
States'! Could the great majority of the non-slaveholding 
States be brought to be of one mind on the subject, and 
should they think and declare their conviction that it is the 
duty of the slaves, what can they do more ? Violate the 
constitution 1 Amend it 1 Either attempt will be the cer- 
tain signal for the dissolution of the Union, and perhaps for 
the flowing of rivers of blood. The South are evidently re- 
solved to allow of no interference ; and it is honestly believ- 
ed by many that a much surer way of bringing about unity 
of sentiment in relation to the course of the slave-holder, is 
to relieve all parts of our country, as fast as possible, from 
the evils which seem inseparable from the presence of a 
degraded population of the colored free. But why, again it 
is asked, why the solemn remonstrance against aiding the 
emigration of such free blacks as desire to settle in Liberia, 
on the ground that their "appeals" and "remonstrances" 
are needed at home, and that it would be a great derelic- 
tion of duty in them " to turn their backs on their breth- 
ren in bonds?" Whether the resolution referred to would 
ever have emanated unsolicited from any portion of the 
colored people themselves, is a question concerning which 
some have expressed doubts ; and how far such a resolu- 



302 INtLLENCE OF NATIONALITY". 

tion, and the declaration and use of it as above, is politic 
and calculated to benefit either the shire or the free, or 
conciliate feelings supposed to be adverse to the interests of 
both, admits also of doubt. 

' As to this first objection — it is declared by the friends 
of colonization that they never designed to remove to Li- 
beria such as forbid the hope of their becoming good citi- 
zens of the colony. Moreover when the humane, encouraged, 
by the door which colonization opens for them to better the 
condition of their slaves, have resolved on their emancipa- 
tion, there has usually been an effort, preparatory, to qualify 
them for the new station which they are to occupy. Be- 
sides, not only is great pains taken by the Society in respect 
to the morals of those sent to the colony, and great encou- 
ragement given by the Society to the slave-holder to 
emancipate his slaves, and prepare them for freedom; but 
it is a fact well understood, thai those freed blacks who are 
here without sufficient incentive to manly effort, and -without 
the means or opportunity to rise, are inspired with new 
life when placed in a situation which furnishes greater 
motive to energy and virtue. 

'Circumstances have great influence in forming the cha- 
racter. "The early circumstances of tho people of New- 
and," says the Repository of 1831, "rendered them 
I roverbially enterprising; and we recently heard a foreign- 
er remark, that England had hardly made a single invention 
in the mechanic arts which has not already been improved 
upon in the United States." National, like individual cha- 
racter, is often elevated and strengthened by circumstances ; 
and no one can doubl thai many causes that can never be 
realized here, will operate in Africa to develops the talents, 

invigorate the faculties, and dignify the purposes of the ] - 

pie of color. 

'Nationality ; asable to the proper elevation of 

any people, and the full developement of the human intel- 



INFLUENCE OF NATIONALITY. 303 

lect.* How many, who, had they remained here, would 
have been hewers of wood and drawers of water, undistin- 
guished either for their enterprise, or any virtue, are achiev- 
ing for themselves and descendants great honor in Liberia 1\ 

* Dr. Becclier has well remarked, that " There is no such thing 
as raising the human mind without nationality. You must have the 
whole machinery of society, or you never will do it. That is the 
reason the Indians cannot be civilized. It is a slander to say that 
there is any thing in the Indian mind to prevent it. They are not 
improved, because you cannot bring upon them the motives for im- 
provement. They have no national existence to bring out their 
powers. I mourn over their condition ; and sure I am, that if they 
could have one state where their mind would have a fair held to 
show itself, it would develope as great and noble trails as ever dis- 
tinguished humanity. I never knew human nature in a state of bar- 
barism where it exhibited such features as it does among our Ame- 
rican Indians. As to the poor African, he never can rise without 
space to move in, and motives to action. If you refuse to move him, 
you will have an equal number of paupers thrown upon your shores, 
and then you must support both. The ways of God are high and 
dreadful. He takes the wickedest of men and causes them to accom- 
plish his own purpose. Their hearts think not so, neither do they 
mean so ; but in their wickedness they do that which God blesses 
and overrules for good. The coast of Africa has been environed 
with dangers. It is almost inaccessible to the approach of the white 
man, and that whole continent has yet to be civilized and christian- 
ized ; and how is it to be done? God has permitted what has come 
to pass. He has suffered its inhabitants to be brought here as slaves, 
and the transposition has scarcely increased their miseries. God is 
not in a hurry in accomplishing his designs ; and by bringing them 
into a Christian land, he has prepared the way for their being throw* 
back in a christianized condition on their native shore. I believo 
that colonization is destined to stop the slave-trade. Your colonics 
will stand like a chain of light from point to point along the whole 
dark coast of benighted Africa, and from the colouies will your mis- 
sionaries go into the interior, until they shall have spread a belt of 
salvation over that benighted portion of the globe." 

fit would be very difficult to point to any part of the world 
where new colonists are not, both intellectually and morally, supe- 
rior to the people in the old country from whom they sprang. Es- 
pecially is this the case where any pains have been taken to extend 



304 CHRISTIANITY ADVANCED. 

The instances are Dot a few, and the facta arc irresistible. 
And whilst they have done well both for themselves and 
posterity, by removal, it is also said in truth, "The elevated 
religious character of the colonists, their serious observance 
of the Sabbath, their strict integrity in commercial inter- 
course, and their habitual propriety of conduct, have secured 
the respect of the natives, and placed matters in such an at- 
titude, that any efforts to promote their temporal and eter- 
nal welfare would be kindly received and abundantly suc- 
cessful." 

' Is the colony of Liberia such as "cannot but be prejudi- 
cial to the spread of Christianity ?" It is not the testimony 
of one alone, as given above; but credible witnesses who 
have been at the colony, and seen for themselves, and were 
competent to form a correct and unprejudiced opinion, de- 
clare that a more moral community cannot be found togeth- 
er in any part of our own highly favored country! That a 
good Christian influence has been exerted by the colony, 
facts that call for gratitude to heaven, and that powerfully 
urge the claims of colonization upon our benevolence, fully 
attest. By the removal of the free blacks, they, as a whole, 
and their posterity, are blessed; at the same time. Africa is 
blessed, and our own country is benefitted. The inllucnce 
of the example of the colony upon the surrounding heathen, 
although that example may not lie perfect, is good ; facilities 
are afforded by the colonj i" missionary effort which, with- 
out the colony, could not I,,' enjoyed, and without which fa- 
culties in the then present state of Africa, every effort would 

tn tin- new m ttlement ihe meaiu of mora] and intellectual improve- 
ment The colony in New South Wales, composed to o great ex- 
tent of tho most degraded class of the British people, of meu and 
women condemned t<> transportation for tin ir crimes, is now an in- 
duslrious, moral, unci flourishing community, aud bids fuir in be- 
come ihe liueli ns el' a | real and n ppcctuble nation. N< w c< 
lrom the nature of die case, are favorable to the improvement oi 
character*" — repository. 



DEGRADATION OK ELEVATION. 305 

be comparatively hopeless; the slave-trade is interrupted, 
and will finally be utterly broken up; and Africa is being 
restored to respectability and happiness, that she may rise 
from the dust, and her once enslaved children and their de- 
scendants may obtain a name and a place among the nations 
of the earth. 

'It would be easy here to multiply instances showing the 
rapid deterioration, generally, of slaves, as respects morality, 
industry, and all virtue, when freed, without the stimulus 
which a new location, where are encouraging prospects of 
due elevation, gives. We will refer to an instance or two. 

'Said William Ladd, Esq. of Maine, in an address be- 
fore the Massachusetts Colonization Society, in 1833, in sup- 
port of a resolution 'that the American Colonization Society 
merits the confidence and patronage of all who are opposed, 
on principle, to slavery,' "Many years ago I loaded a ship 
in Savannah, and had for my stevedore one Joe Blog. He 
was one of the smartest and most faithful men I ever em- 
ployed. I gave his master a dollar a day for him, and gave 
Joe privately half a dollar a day beside. Joe was active, 
sleek, well-dressed and sprightly. Joe was a slave. Some 
years after, I returned to the same port, and sought out my 
old friend Joe, and employed him. lie was idle, restless, 
ragged, and lazy, and I soon dismissed him. Joe was free. 
And as far as my observation has extended, and I have lived 
long in slave countries, this is a fair sample of the liberated 
slaves, though there are noble exceptions. But I consider it 
more their misfortune than their fault. With other incen- 
tive to labor than the fear of the lash, uneducated and igno- 
rant, what better can we expect 1" 

' The illustrious Madison, in a letter to a gentleman, pub- 
lished just before his decease, says, 'You express a wish to 
obtain information in relation to the history of the emanci- 
pated people of color in Prince Edward. 1 presume those 
emancipated by the late Richard Randolph more especially. 
More than twenty-five years ago, I think, they were liberat- 



306 DEGRADATION OR ELEVATION. 

ed, at which time they numbered about 100, and were set- 
tled on small parcels of laud <>f ten to twenty-five acres to 
each family. As long as the habits of industry which they 
had acquired while slaves, lasted, they continued to increase 
in numbers, and lived in some degree of comfort, — but as 
soon as this was lost, and most of those who had been many 
years in slavery, cither died or became old and infirm, and 
a new race raised iu idleness and vice sprang up, they began 
not only to be idle and vicious, but to diminish instead of 
increasing, and have continued to diminish in numbers very 
regularly every year — and that too, without emigration; for 
the) have almost without exception, remained together, in 
the same situation as at first placed, to this day. Idleness, 
poverty, and dissipation are the agents which continue to 
diminish their numbers, and to render them wretched in the 
extreme, as well as a great pest and heavy tax upon the 
neighborhood in which they live. There is so little of in- 
dustry and so much dissipation among them, that it is im- 
possible that the females can rear their families of children 
— and the consequence is, that they prostitute themselves, 
and consequently have few children — and the operations of 
time, profligacy, and disease, more than keep pace with any 
increase among them. While they are a very great pest 
and heavy tax upon the community, it is meet "l>\ ions they 
themselves are infinitely worsted by the exchange from 
slavery to liberty — if, indeed, their condition deserve that 
name.""-'' 

* The Washington Union alluding to the statistics of the colored 
population, showing that the free colored population of the United 
States Ikis increased only 8^9 per cent, in the last ten years, and 
that in N>-w England it has actually diminished, says: — 

" There are those alive who have traced the fortunes of negro 
families that were taken from Virginia and Maryland in the New- 
England Siatcs ahout the close of our revolutionary war. and who 
can prove by unerring figures that those families have decayed mid 
perished almost as rapidly as the aborigines of our country. Tho 
tendency of the negro made free, if placed in contact with the white 



PROMOTES EMANCIPATION. 307 

' In reference to the other objection — that colonization 
perpetuates slavery, we may also appeal to facts. Mr. M. 
Carey said truly, many years ago, that "Among the most 
promising and encouraging circumstances attending the ca- 
reer of this Society, are the numerous manumissions that 
have taken place in almost all the slave states, on the ex- 
press condition of the freed people being sent to Liberia. 
These manumissions have occurred on a scale that the most 
sanguine friends of the scheme could not have anticipated. 
Entire families have been blest with their freedom, from 
the most pure motives, a conviction of the immorality and 
injustice of slavery — and in many eases ample provision has 
been made for the expense of their passage, and in some, for 
their support in Liberia. They have been thus released 
from the debasement and degradation of slavers, and sent to 
the land of their fathers, to partake of all the happiness that 
freedom and the certainty of enjoying all the fruits of their 
labor, can inspire." 

' It would be impracticable to enumerate all the cases 
that have transpired in which the opening of Liberia has 
been an inducement to the liberation of slaves. But a few 
instances may be given as specimens, to show the good in- 
fluence of the society in encouraging emancipation, and to 
show the encouragement which is given to the Society to 
persevere and abound in its great and benevolent work. 

' Colonel Smith, an old revolutionary officer, of Sussex 
county, Virginia, ordered in his will, that all his slaves, 
seventy or eighty in number, should be emancipated ; and 
bequeathed above §5,000 to defray the expense of trans- 
porting them to Liberia. Patsey Morris, of Louisa county, 
Virginia, directed by will, that all her slaves, sixteen in 
number, should be emancipated, and left $500 to fit them 
out, and defray the expense of their passage. Dr. Bradley, 

man, is evidently to a state which unfits him more and more to mul- 
tiply his species and coalribute to the civilization of which he is 
rather a mournful spectator than an intelligent friend." 



308 PROMOTES EMANCIPATION-. 

of Georgia, left forty-nine slaves i\a\ on condition of their 
removal to Liberia. Mrs. Elizabeth Morris, <>f Bourbon 
county. Virginia, provided by will for the emancipation of 
her slaves, about forty in number. David Patterson, of 
Orange county, North Carolina, freed eleven slaves, to be 
sent to Liberia. A gentleman in North Carolina gave free- 
dom to all his slaves, fourteen in number, and proi ided *20 
each, to pay their passage to Liberia. William Fitzhugh, 
bequeathed their freedom to all his slaves, alter a certain 
fixed period, and ordered that their expenses should be paid 
to -whatsoever place they should think proper to go. And, 
"as an encouragement to them to emigrate to the Ameri- 
can colony on the coast of Africa, -where," adds the will, "I 
believe their happiness will be more permanently secured, 
I desire not only that the expenses of their emigration be 
paid, but that the sum of fifty dollars be paid to each one 
so emigrating, on his or her arrival in Africa." David Shri- 
ver, of Frederic county, Maryland, ordered by his will, that 
all his slaves, thirty in number, should be emancipated, and 
that proper provision should be made for the comfortable 
support of the infirm and aged, and for the instruction of 
the young, in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and in some 
art or trade, by which they might acquire the means of sup- 
port. Rev. Robert Cox, Suffolk county, Virginia, provided 
bv his will for the emancipation of all his slaves, upwards 
of thirty, and left several hundred dollars to pay their pas- 
sage to Liberia. A lady, near Charlestown, Virginia, libe- 
rated all her slaves, ten in number, to be sent to Liberia; 
and moreover purchased two, whose families were among 
her slaves. For the one she gave $450, and for the other 
$350. Herbert 15. Elder, of Petersburg, Virginia, bequeath- 
ed their freedom to all his slaves, twenty in number, with 
directions that they should be conveyed to Liberia by the 
first opportunity. Mrs. J. of Mercer county, Kentucky, and 
her two sons, one a clergyman, and the other a physician, 
olfered the Colonization Society sixty slaves to be eonveved 



PROMOTES EMANCIPATION. 509 

to Liberia. Rev. Fletcher Andrew gave freedom to twen- 
ty, who constituted most of his property, for the same pur- 
pose. Nathaniel Crenshaw, near Richmond, liberated sixty 
slaves, with a view to have them sent to Liberia. Mr. Isaac 
Ross, of Mississippi, an officer in the war of ihe revolution, 
more recently left all his slaves, one hundred and seventy 
in number, on the following conditions, viz : that after the 
death of his daughter, (now a widow,) the slaves who may 
be over twenty-one years of age shall decide whether they 
will remain in bondage or go to Africa. If they determine 
to go to Africa, all the property is to be sold, and the -pro- 
ceeds, together with the proceeds of the crops till that time, 
(12.000 or 15,000 dollars excepted,) are to be expended in 
their transportation and comfortable settlement in the colony 
of Liberia, and the establishment of an institution of learning 
in some part of the colony. If they determine not to go, 
they and all the estate is to be sold, and the proceeds ap- 
plied to the endowment of the aforesaid institution of learn- 
ing. A gentleman of Louisiana left thirty to go to Libe- 
ria, and directed his executors to pay their passage — an out- 
fit of tools, implements of husbandry, provisions and clothes 
for one year, and to two of them he gave -$500 each. Ano- 
ther, from the same state, left thirty, making similar pro- 
visions for their removal to Africa, and for their comfort 
after their arrival. In Virginia one manumitted twenty- 
three, another fifty, another sixteen, and a fourth twenty- 
five ; and many others similar and smaller numbers, all on 
condition of their going to Africa. In Tennessee many ex- 
amples similar to the above may be given. One man libe- 
rated twenty -three, and another twenty-one, supplying them 
with ample funis, and also providing clothing for them, and 
furnishing them with suitable tools, and for paying the ex- 
pense of their removal to Africa. Her legislature promised 
to give $10 toward defraying the expenses of each one who 
shall go to Liberia. The excellent example of Mr. Turpin, 
who emancipated all his slaves in South Carolina, and gave 



310 ASSISTANCE TO EMIGRANT8. 

them his estate valued at 8329,000, is -worthy of constant 
remembrance and imitation. Eighteen were liberated by 
Mrs. Greenfield, near Natchez, on the condition that they 
should go to Africa; and on the same condition E. B. Ran- 
dolph, of Columbus, liberated twenty; William Foster, 
Esq. twenty-one; another twenty-eight; a gentleman in 
Kentucky, sixty; a lady in the same state, forty; all for 
the most part young, and all, with very few exceptions, 
under forty years of age. The Society of Friends in North 
Carolina had liberated, as early as 1S35, no less than six 
hundred and fifty-two. 

'Numerous applications are constantly before the Socie- 
ty, or its auxiliaries, for assistance in emigrating to Africa. 
A large number of slaves ate. by the decision of their mas- 
ters, free in prospect, and in a course of preparation for 
liberty; whilst others will be free the moment they can find 
a passage to Liberia. 

'It is an unquestionable fact, well worthy of consideration, 
that the fewer slaves there are in any section of countrv, 
the more easy is it to emancipate; and the stronger be- 
eomes the tendency ti> emancipation. The same remark 
may apply to the absence of a free colored population in 
slave-holding districts. It is not easy to emancipate the 
slave whilst, by so doing, you will in all probability in- 
crease the dangers that threaten society, and swell the num- 
ber of those whose freedom seems to be a curse. Besides. 
as instances are multiplied, those who emancipate their 
slaves, become a standing monument, in the midst of a slave- 
holding community "of the triumph of Christian principle 
Over selfish interest — a constant, living reproof te) all who 
still retain their fellow-men in bondage."* 

■ Much has been sai<l in reference to emancipation, of a menial 
rcKundalion of the right el property in slaves ; " a renunciation which 
the law would treat aa a anility, and which might lie mentally re* 
traded, at any moment, without the knowledge of the community." 
One instance, in the midst of the slave-holding Stairs, of bona tide 



PROMOTES EMANCIPATION. 311 

'If colonization "were abandoned, many Christian slave- 
holders, who desire to emancipate their slaves, would be de- 
prived of the power of doing so, the laws of the slave-hold- 
ing States generally prohibiting emancipation unless the 
slaves are removed from the State. True, it may be said, 
' : these are wicked laws ;" and the sincerity of such slave- 
holders may be treated with discredit, and affected contempt 
and ridicule may assail them in the place of kind remon- 
strance and argument — as in the following instance, taken 
from an "immediate abolition" periodical; — 

' " But are you not aware, Sir, that in many States 

there are laws against emancipation ?" This was uttered 
with a most imposing air by a man who was defending 
slavery under the present circumstances. " Indeed," replied 
his opponent, " but who make the laws 1" " The slave- 
holders, to be sure." " So I thought ; and the unfortunate 
condition of the poor slave-holders, who have tied their 
own hands by such laws, reminds me of an anecdote. A 
lady on going out for a few hours, left some trifling mat- 
ters to be attended to in her absence, by her little daughter. 
On her return she found that all the things which were to 
be done had been neglected. — ' How is this, my dear,' 
said she, ' why have you not done this, and why not that V 
' Because I could'nt mamma.' ' But why could'nt you V 
' Why, don't you see, mamma, I am tied to the leg of the 
table V 'Indeed, so you are, but who tied you to the leg 
of the table, my dear 1 ' Oh I tied myself, mamma ! ! ' " 

' This anecdote, quite amusing in itself, whether founded 
in fact or not, is in its application, to say the least, unfair 
and sophistical. It supposes that those slave-holders who 

emancipation, evidenced by self-denying exertions to locate the 
emancipated in a land where they may be truly free and blessed, 
will, it is conscientiously believed, have more force in freeing 
others, than a hundred auxiliaries at the North, or tens of thousands 
of speeches and resolves which never reach ihe eye or ear of a single 
slave-holder, or if they do, serve only to irritate and shut up every 
avenue to conviction. 



312 PROMOTES EMANCIPATION. 

find the laws an impediment in the way of emancipation, 
are the identical majority of the several States, which have 
enacted those laws ; this, it is well known, is not the fact — 
and unless it be so, how is the comparison just or otherwise 
than unkind and insulting to the benevolent and Christian 
feelings of those who, seeking the best interests of the 
colored race, are desirous of giving freedom to their 
slaves ?* Besides, it is possible, not only for individuals 

* " In the year 1770, the friends in the United States declared 
slavery to be inconsistent with the principles of Christianity, and 
prohibited it among the members of their body. The Friends of the 
Yearlv Meeting of North Carolina, including a part of Tennessee and 
Virginia, amounting to many thousands, petitioned the Legislature 
of North Carolina for permission to emancipate their slaves. It was 
refused. They continued to press the subject with petition after 
petition for forty years, and with no better success. They at length, 
without law, emancipated their slaves upon the soil; and what was 
the consequence .' More than one hundred of those emancipated 
slaves were taken up and sold into perpetual and hopeless bondage, 
under the laws of the State. Emancipation on the soil was plainly 

impossible in the existing state of public feeling. Alter various ex- 
pedients, and having expended iu ten years more than $v!0,000 in 
procuring asylums for their slaves in the free States, the free States 
made enactments preventing this intrusion of free blacks upon them. 
Peuusylvaiua, New Jersey, and New-York were applied to in vain, 
the door was shut. Some years since, they embarked one hundred 
of their liberated slaves for Pennsylvania. They were refused a 
landing in the State. Tiny went over to New Jersey. The same 
i' In ai met them there. Tiny were then left to float up and down 
the Delaware river without a spot of dry land to set their feet upon, 
till the Colonization Society took them up and gave them a resting 
place iu Liberia. 

"They have now five hundred slaves left, whom they are anxious 
to liberate; and what shall they do; Get the laws < if the State altered I 
Tliev labored after that for forty years, and more than one whole 
gent ration of black men died iu bondage while their masters were 
striving to effectuate immediate emancipation. Immediate emancipa- 
tion thev found to be so tlov <t proeett tlntt they were obliged to 

resort to colonization, in order that something might be done im- 

mediately. And in such instances, what possible mode of immediate 
relief is there i sxept colonization ? Shall they resist the laws of tho 



PROMOTES EMANCIPATION. 313 

who have "but little influence in legislation, but even for the 
majority, even for a whole people, without an individual 
exception, to propose, and enact, and continue, and support 
such laws, without being liable to the inconsistency and re- 
proach which is intended in the above comparison. Laws 
are designed for the general good ; and if it be not safe for 
the community at large ; and not generous and truly kind, 
but greatly injurious to the slaves at large, to emancipate 
them universally and immediately — laws for the preserva- 
tion of the slave, and the protection of the commonwealth, 
are necessary and unavoidable ; and by those laws all good 
citizens must be governed, without exception. — Every good 
citizen in that case is " tied," not by himself, but by invin- 
cible necessity — the peculiar circumstances of the case which 
renders such laws necessary both as an act of humanity to- 
ward the slave, and of sacred regard to the common weal.* 

'I think you will perceive that instead of retarding, Colo- 
nization will, and does advance Christianity, and that it 
docs and will promote emancipation. 

' The further consideration of this subject we will now 
postpone to another evening.' 

State ? This would be contrary to the principles of Quakerism ; and 
on this point at least, the unlawfulness of aggressive resistance even 
to legalized oppression, the wrongfulness of destroying human life 
for the attainment of any political purpose — on this point I must con- 
ceive that Quakerism is Christianity." — Prof. Slowe. 

* "Though every virtuous man will aim to promote that state of 
society which secures freedom and equal rights to every member cf 
the community, and though of the possibility of such a state under 
the influence of civilization and Christianity, we ought not to despair, 
yet it is unquestionable that individual freedom and individual hap- 
piness should ever be considered subordinate to the public good. It 
is not light that men should lie free when their freedom irill prove injurious 
to tlicmselves and others. Hence, in all enligtheued communities, the 
restraints upon minors, and upon all who are found incapable of 
judging and acting for themselves." — Repository. 



14 



rnvmamMtim sxs. 



" Whatever may be said in opposition to the wise and benevolent 
scheme of Colonization ; and however apparently plausible may he 
the objections of persona who are unfriendly to the cause, it is clearly 
evident to any individual whose mind is unprejudiced, especially to 
those who have had opportunities for personal observation and inves- 
tigation as to the results of that enterprise, that it is one of the in- 
struments in the hands of the Almighty Baler of the universe for 
carrying out his wise designs with reference to Africa. And in view 
of what has already been accomplished, and of the incalculable 
amount of good which may yet be accomplished, through the instru- 
mentality of the Colonization Society, and of the Republic of Liberia; 
surely no true friend of the colored race can consistently oppose the 
operations of the former, or withhold the expression or exhibition of 
a sincere desire fur the continued prosperity of the latter." — Dr 
Ltigculcd. 

' Perhaps I cannot better commence my interview with 
you this evening, my children, than by reading to you 
some extracts from the address which I hold in my hands, 
written by Mr. Birney — "An address to the free colored 
people, advising them to remove to Liberia." 

1 What, pa,' said Caroline, 'the lion. James G. Birney, 
who was formerly the candidate for President of the United 
States, proposed by the party so hostile to Colonization 
and Liberia V 

'The same gentleman. Yon will sec that he by no 
means disguises the fact of his former hostility to the re- 
moval of the colored people to Africa; but that his views, 
and therefore his feeling-, had been much modified. He is a 
gentleman of great prominence, of commanding talents, and 
1 doubt not ..j" purity of motive. I am happy to recognise 
any signs of a better f-eling beginning to prevail, and wiser 
counsels given, Oil the part oi' any who have hitherto con- 
ferred on the glorious enterprise in which coloiiizationista 



MR. BIRNEy's ADDRES8. 315 

are embarked, only frowns and reproaches. Mr. Birney, in 
a prefatory note, says, the colored people "ought to be 
much reasoned with," and that " every thing that is intro- 
duced " (in his address) is " to make very plain to the 
colored population that they ought to remove to Liberia." 
In his address, he argues on this wise : " You will soon have 
to make an election — an inevitable one, too — depending on 
the open deeds of your class, rather than on their more 
secret thoughts. The election to which I refer is contained 
in this question, which each of you may ask himself: 'Shall 
7, if I am able, emigrate from this country?'' If you have 
made up your minds not to emigrate, there will be no use 
in your determining to what country you should go. I am 
not unaware of the noble resolution passed in your meetings 
some years ago — that you would remain here, and abide 
the destiny of your colored friends in slavery. Neither am 
I unaware that, when this resolution was made known, your 
presence and good conduct among us were thought might 
be made serviceable in gaining liberty for the enslaved. 
But that day is passed by ; that expectation, apparently so 
well founded, is vain. The state of case that rendered your 
resolution magnanimous has changed. Your presence here 
now can be of no service to your enslaved brethren. By 
remaining, you only destroy yourselves. Your submitting, 
suffering, ultimately dying here, can effect nothing on the 
oppressors of your brethren. The nobleness of your con- 
duct may extract the remark that ' Such a fellow ought to 
have gone to Liberia ; he would have been a great acquisition 
there? but would have no more influence on those who 
could serve him than the last gasp of a worn-out German 
on the petty despots of his oppressed countrymen, or of an 
Irishman on the tyrannous rulers of his brethren. We 
think more highly of them, coming over to this country, 
than of their wilting, and at length sinking down ingloriously 
at home : especially do we, if by their self-restraint they 
save something, and send to their friends to get them away 



316 mr. birney's addkess. 

too. A plan is prepared by your enemies; it is this; they 
are determined to (jet you away, that they may maintain 
slaiiry more undisturbed. As parts of this plan, they arc 
resolved (and when did they fail in any project to support 
slavery) to extend it — to bring more persons to be inte- 
rested and implicated in it. and thus to make all the mighty 
power of the government subservient to its existence and 
confirmation. 

' tt Superiority on the part of the whites will always be 
vaunted over you ; as a class, inferiority will always i 
knowledged by you. There are individuals who will be ex- 
ceptions only. But the frame of the mind that these tem- 
pers are well qualified to beget, will, as a general thing, 
and in the long run, become habitual. To this 1 know of no 
exception. We are told that white Americans, with all 
their high democratic Dotions, become the most listless and 
degraded beings when reduced to slavery, as they formerly 
were by the corsairs of the Mediterranean! It would seem 
indeed — as if to show how odious a thing slavery is — that, 
just in proportion as the feelings and honor of men are ele- 
vated in freedom, they become low and abject in slavery. 

' "As long as there was any well-founded hope that the 
principles of our government would prevail, and that they 
would in the end exterminate slavery, 1 wished you to re- 
main here. While 1 feel still convinced that, should we ad- 
vance in population and wealth as we have done for the 
last fifty years, slavery will finally disappear, as it now has 
in almost all European countries, its abolition will not be 
lit about by the principle* of the government, but by 
the causes mention* d and others united with them. Slavery 
i- a most expensive thing in a dense state of population. 
When this i. the case, freemen will perform, ami perform 

i- than slave-., the offices to which the latter are often 

called. Should it ever be submitted to me. for instance, 
whsther a friend should go to purgatory-— from which, it is 

aaid, he may be gotten out— or to hell— from which they 



MR. BIRNErs ADDRESS. 317 

say no one can get out — I should have no hesitation in ad- 
vising him to try the former. Or, had I lived in the time, 
of Trov, and had she been able to beat olT and defeat the 
invading Greeks, it is very certain that I would not have; 
advised ..-Eneas and his few friends to seek a new country,' 
through all their perils ; but as Troy was burned down, her 
defenders slain, but few of the inhabitants left, ./Eneas broken 
up in his private afiairs by death, and loss, and utter dis- 
comfiture, the best thing that he and his faithful followers 
could do, was to seek a new country, where, undisturbed, 
and under more favorable auspices, they could re-establish 
the government and laws which they preferred. 

' " But let us suppose that you have answered the first 
question in the affirmative, and that you have fully made 
up your minds to remove. The next that naturally arises 
is, ' To what country shall I go P There are three countries, 
Canada, the British "West Indies, and Liberia, to which you 
can go, and to the last two you may be said to be invited. 

' ' ; Canada, at best, is a cold and wintry country, with a 
climate farther north and colder than those in which most 
of you have been brought up. The most desirable part of 
it too, the southern, is already occupied by the whites, and 
the lands are at a higher price than you could afford to pay. 
Almost of necessity, you will be pushed hi to the bleak and 
hyperborean regions of it. Besides, a spirit of contempt 
and hostility against the colored man, akin to our own, pre- 
vails much in Canada. They have their -provincial legis- 
lature, in which white men, mostly of the Anglo-Saxon race, 
bear sway. While I would say, go anywhere to get rid of 
this country, go not there, if you can help it. If you do, 
you go as an inferior class, and many of the ills you suffer 
here, you will continue to suffer there. Nor do we know — 
and such a thing is not to my mind more improbable than 
was, two or three years ago, the passing of the Fugitive 
Slave Act in Congress — that a negotiation may not be suc- 
cessfully made by this country with Great Britain, in which 



318 mr. birvst'b address. 

may be contained a provision for your being delivered up 
to t h i < government, or to its proxy, the slave-catcher. Re- 
member, too, thai you are t<> assist in building up the 
nation into which you go, and of which you and your de- 
scendants are to constitute a part. On that account, if you 
do not think you owe it to yourselves, you certainly do to 
them, not to emigrate to any land where you will, by caste, 
he an inferior portion of it, and always remain such. And 
it may be, too, — and if I read the signs of the times right, 
it will be, — that before very long Canada will be separated 
from Great Britain, and constitute, in all likelihood, a part 
of this government. 

' "Many of our remarks about Canada will also apply to 
the British West Indies. They too, have their provincial 
legislatures, though they are not so inaccessible to the co- 
lored man as the one in Canada. But the whites there 
once were slaveholders, and. when compelled to relinquish 
slavery, they did not relinquish the unjust and domineer- 
ing spirit of ihc master. This spirit is seen in their multi- 
farious oppressions of the emancipated people under color 
of law. They seem to be mad at being forced to give up 
their dominion over the slaves, ami. in this cowardly wav, 
take their revenge, as far as they can. The climate is 
sultry, warm, tropical— warmer, indeed, than many of you 
have been accustomed to. But it is one of the kind provi- 
dences of God, that our physical constitutions become more 
and more adapted to the climate in which we live, especially 

it" it be a warm OH \ 

'"But 1 have said you were invited there. Tis true, 
it may be so said. l!ut why .' To labor for them. That you 
may assist them in making more BUgar than they now have, 
ami in giving new value to old and neglected estates. It is 
very true that all the honors that .-an he bestowed there are 
gible to the colored man. and that public opinion against 
him is not so prevalent as it is in Canada. In this respect 
they may be superior to Canada, but you arc invited, be- 



mr. birney's address. 319 

cause they expect you will be inferior, as a class. If you 
were not to be laborers for the planters, you would occasion 
disappointment. So you would, too, should you emigrate 
to those islands solely for the sake of bettering your own 
condition, or of setting up for yourselves. The British "West 
Indies will gain but little distinction till the majority rule 
there, and till they of that majority show themselves, also, 
friends of popular rights, and qualified in every way to bear 
office and transact business. 

' "There is another reason which ought not to be omitted, 
and which would, probably, have some influence in dissuad- 
ing you from settling down in the British West Indies. 
Like other old slaveholding colonies, they are much in debt, 
and the taxes are high. Taxes, to be sure, are paid, as we 
all know, by different interests; but everywhere, and under 
all governments, they are paid by labor, in some form. I 
know of no exemption that you could claim, were you to fix 
your residence there. 

' " Of Liberia I intend to say but little. She is now, and 
she has been for the last four years, politically detached 
from the government. She is entirely free, and her national 
independence has been recognized by France and Great 
Britain. What is true of it has been as well said as I could 
say it, perhaps much better. It would be strange, indeed, 
if its warm advocates had not, in commending it, gone a 
good deal beyond the truth. That Liberia is no elysium is 
very clear to my mind. Should you conclude to emigrate 
to it, I would not have you to imagine that you arc going 
to any such place. In saying this, I intend no disparagement 
of Liberia, below other new countries, but they all testify to 
the truth of the remark. In going there, you are going to 
a land — rich and fertile I believe it to be — in which much 
work, particularly of the rough kind, is to be done, before 
the conveniences and advantages you leave behind can be 
had ; where labor of the right kind is scarce and hard to be 
obtained; where society is rude and uncouth; and where, 



820 MR. EIRNEY S ADDRES8. 

after straggling with difficulties fur a lifetime, you will die, 
leaving things, it is to be hop d, better than you found tliem. 
Then- may be some exceptions, but I speak not of them, 
but of the general social condition. 

'"Lastly, haying Been the miseries and evils of slavery 
here in every way, it is to be supposed that you will exer- 
cise restraint enough, not only not to engage in it your- 
-. but to discountenance any approach to it in others. 
This should be done on the first and least attempt that way : 
for although the secondary law, and even constitution*, may 
forbid slavery — as is the case in some of our free States — 
yet slavery may. substantially, be practised ; and you here 
sec "what a great matter a little fire kindleth." And 
I must say, — considering who are at the head of the Colo- 
nization cause in this country, many of them being them- 
selves slaveholders, or the friends of slavery here, — it 
■would not much surprise me if you were to become some- 
what implicated in it; especially, too. when I remember 
that some of OUT early settlers iled from their own country 
to avoid persecution, and became a good deal remarkable 
as persecutors here. But be assured, if you tolerate slavery 
among you, the foundation will be laid of much trouble ; 
of a superstructure that, will be weak and unstable, and 
that will not stand a heavy blow. But, putting aside all 
this — notwithstanding reports, which 1 must say are not 
favorable, have been sit on foot, but which, although they 
have been reiterated, I trust have been amply disproved 
from the most reliable Bources— what recommends Liberia 
to me for you. and what ought to recommend it t<> you, is, 
that the germs of civilization are there, and the white man 
does not rule. 

'••It would not much surprise me if the counsel I have 
thought it well i.. offer, were at jir.st rejected by yon all. 

Indeed, it would more surprise me if it were not— although 

you mutt Bee '.hat i: is offered for your good — that it springs 
from i he oppressive principle that gave birth to the Coloni- 



Ma. BIRNEY S ADDRESS. 321 

zation Society, and from the wrongs inflicted on you by the 
whites, wrongs that you were unable to resist. I am fully 
prepared, too, for permanent opposition on the part of two 
classes of the colored people. 1. Those who have made 
money, however small in amount it must be when com- 
pared with the whites, and wish to enjoy it here, content 
that they and their families suffer all the impositions they 
now suffer, impositions that, if the belief I entertain is true, 
will be aggravated in future. 2. Those who have no more 
energy or force of character than will suffice them .to run 
their chance of getting enough in this country to eat and 
wear. 

' " To these two classes, knowing it would be useless, I have 
nothing to say. But to the more noble-minded ; to those 
who wish to get from under the pressure of irresistable, un- 
just power ; to those who wish to give full sweep to the fa- 
culties which God has given to all his children ; to those 
who wish to make men of themselves ; to those, the sooner 
the idea is proposed, the better. 

' " I have said that at first my counsel will be rejected by 
all of you. There may, however, be a few who will not 
reject it, such as have had rather a dim or obscure view of 
the plan proposed, and who would not even mention what 
they knew, for fear of incurring an odium which they could 
not meet, or of separating from a class of which they still 
wished to form a part. 

'"With these exceptions — and only as exceptions ouo-ht 
they to be considered — the colored people have fallen into 
the notion — a notion in which, perhaps, they have been 
trained — that it is a point of honor for them to remain in 
this country as long as their colored brethren are enslaved, 
and that it will gratify their enemies, the Colonizationists. 
should they go to Liberia. Admitting that the Coloniza- 
tionists are all they are supposed to be — a thing I feel no 
inclination to controvert — it is an unworthy motive, and it 
will be as sure to injure you as any other unworthy motive 
14* 



322 MR. DIKN-EY'S ADDRESS. 

is sure to injure him who entertains it. It matters not how 
small the thing may be, nor whether he against whom the 
wrong may be done knows of it or not. 

'••But ought the whole matter of your emigration to bo 
thought of thus? It is too important to be committed to 
the direction of feeling and passion. It ought to be submit- 
ted to our best judgment — to our most deliberate reason — 
the highest faculty of our nature, and therefore well adapt- 
ed for deciding such questions. A fair appeal to this power 
will enable von to determine whether, on the whole, you 
should leave this country, and what other you should seek. 

'"But you will no doubt say that this counsel, coming 
from an old and reputed friend, will precipitate on you evils 
which you are unprepared tor, and which, otherwise, you 
would not stiller. 1 would be very far from aiding in any 
way in bringing about such a state of things, nor do I think 
that what I have said will do so. But it must be remem- 
bered that the 'oppressor' lure has i power^ and that he 
has all the effective and official departments of the govern- 
ment on his side; that the whites have already explained 
away and overlooked the provisions of their Constitution; 
that they have forgotten and disregarded the humanity we 
owe all our fellow-beings, and that they will proceed as far 
as they may think necessary to accomplish t/icir jnirjwse, 
no matter what may lie the extremity. 

'"But some of you, iii your dejection and in your oppug- 
nation to injustice, may say. We can suffer it. That may be, 
I will not dispute it. But to he cast down, discouraged, be- 
comes no one whose OOnstanl aim is to do right, least of all 
him who aspires to lead others by perilous paths to safe 

places. 

'"Whilst it must be almost needless to say to you that 
the counsel I have offered is only the expression of my opi- 
nion; that it can he disposed of, if unsound, and that, if un- 
sound, it has no binding force on anyone; I trust it is equal- 
ly needless to say. that its fair and candid consideration will 



INDUCEMENTS TO GO TO LIBERIA. 823 

be very gratifying, and that this gratification will be much 
increased, if it should lead to happy results." 

'This address,' said Air. L. 'coming from one so con- 
spicuous and influential, who has in times past so strenuously 
opposed migration to Liberia, is a happy omen of other 
changes in public sentiment. Mr. Birney still labors under 
some misapprehension of the origin, policy, and merits of 
the Colonization Society, which perhaps is not strange, after 
the many years culture of strong prejudices against the no- 
ble enterprise ; but his address will do good. A more pure, 
high-minded, humane institution, was never undertaken by 
man. The ways of Providence are mysterious ; but I think 
the Divine agency which controls, and which is apparent in 
the success of the colonies, will be more and more recogniz- 
ed and appreciated. I do not believe there is an enterprise 
of the present age which promises more of real good to 
mankind, than that of the scheme of African Colonization. 

' As a great moral and religious enterprise, for the pur- 
pose of redeeming xVfrica from barbarism, and establishing 
among its now enslaved and merely animal races, civiliza- 
tion, government, art, science, and religion, it is worthy of 
the approval and support of every patriot and Christian in 
the land. 

' The beauty of this scheme is, that it is eminently practi- 
cal. It is real. It has to do with man. It purposes to im- 
prove and elevate him — to teach him how to live, and to 
make life a blessing, instead of a curse. Its object is the 
mighty one of civilizing Africa, through the instrumentality 
of her own people; of building along her ocean-coasts towns 
and cities and villages, populated by an industrious, intelli- 
gent, and Christian people. Such an object should not be 
abhorred by any man who has in him the spirit or the de- 
sire of doing good. 

'The inducements held out by Liberia to the colored 
people of this country, to make the new Republic their 
home, arc constantly augmenting. None who are acquaint- 



32-1 INDUCEMENTS TO 00 TO LIBERIA- 

ed with tho facts in the cue can fail to perceive that tho 
full development of the faculties of the colored man, and the 
highest reward for honorable exertion, are secured to him 
onlj in Liberia. There is opened a wide and clear field for 
his best present g< >u<l, and his greatest future advancement. 
The mere intelligent and educated he becomes, the more 
he will appreciate the advantages of citizenship in Liberia. 
Whatever prejudices have existed against the colonization 
scheme, are, where there is a candid, intelligent mind, and 
an hone-t, humane heart, yielding, since the organization of 
the free Republic, and the exhibition of its prosperity and 
wonderful success.* 

* The whole movement baa, we believe, from first to last, been 
regarded with jealousy, if not hostility, by the abolition party, who 
saw in it only the dislike of white for black, and shut their eyes to 
the religions and philanthropic object. We do not profess to know 
how far this \\;i- a reasonable reeling on the pari of the worthy men 
who an- standing up for oegro rights in America; bat assuredly, 
whatever were the motives of the Colonization Society, the conse- 
quences of their acts arc such as to give them no small ground tor 
triumph. For any thing that we can see, their settling of Liberia 
has been the most unexceptionable good movement against slavery 

that has over taken place. Perhaps it has not been the worse, hilt 

rather the better, for that infusion of the wisdom of this world a hicb 
has discommended it so much to the abolitionists. 

It occurs to us that the Colonization Society needs no other de- 
fence for its policy than to point to the spirit which has all along ani- 
mated the black people who emigrated to Africa, one sentiment, 

that it was worth while to encounter all the possible hardships and 
dangers on a foreign strand lor the sake of perfect freedom, appears in 
the whole conduct of these men. They appear to have been gene- 
rally persons of decided piety, and the missionary spirit is conspicu- 

oui at every stage of their proceeding. Not less important as a tes- 
timony to the same effect has been the energetic contention which 
the colonists have kept up against the slave-dealing propensities oi 
the native princes. These men felt from the first that the Liberians 
were enemies to that traffic which gave them their most valued 

luxuries, and here lay the greatest difficulty which the settlors had 
to sue tier. Their early history is a series of martyrdoms visited 

upon them by the slave-trade. — Chambers' Edinburgh Journal. 



COLONIZATION COMMENDED. o'Zb 

'" There is," Mr. Webster has well remarked, " a power 
that sees the end of all things from the beginning. God is his 
own interpreter. The cupidity and criminality of men were 
often, under Divine Providence, made to work out great 
designs for the good of mankind. African slaves were 
brought here almost simultaneously with the advent of the 
whites themselves. In our short-sightedness, we see only 
the desire of the white man to possess himself of the labor 
of the black. Those black men, when first- brought here, the 
victims of war and violence in their native land, were igno- 
rant, brutal, without knowledge of God ; but now their de- 
scendants, though in a condition, it is true, subordinate, in 
ferior, and enslaved, have learned and have come to know 
more than any or all that they left behind them in their na- 
tive and barbarous Africa. And this seems, indeed, to be 
the mode, the rule established by Providence, by which 
Christianity shall be returned to that continent. How plain- 
ly is this an indication of Providence ! He who goes back 
to Africa under the auspices of this Society is an intelligent 
man ; he knows he is an immortal man ; and he is in every 
way infinitely more advanced than his ancestors were when 
they were first brought to America." 

'The Rev. E. W. Stokes, who went to Liberia with 
strong prejudices, writes, in 1851, to the Rev. Dr. King of 
Glasgow : " Liberia is proud to differ from all other nations 
in a very important point. She is settled in the midst of a 
great heathen nation, but she does not destroy them. The 
heathen do not disappear before her, as has been the case 
with other civilized people who have migrated to heathen 
lands. On the contrary, the heathen live and flourish in the 
very midst of the Liberians, looking up to them as fathers 
and friends. Instead of driving them out or putting them to 
the sword, we encourage their growth, and every available 
means is resorted to in order to bring them into a better 
state of morals and religion." 

' The Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D. the venerable 



326 COLONIZATION COMMENDED. 

Professor of Theology at Princeton, said, under date of 
May 1, 1850: "I have watched the progress of the Coloni- 
zation Society from its commencement until this day; and 
though always favorable to the scheme of providing an asy. 
lam and a home fur the free people of color, whose situa- 
tion in this country is so unfavorable — yet, for a long time 
I entertained no sanguine expectations of success in planting 
a colony on the coast of Africa, with the feeble means pos- 
sessed by the .Society. But the design, 1 believe, was from 
God, and he has given efficacy to exertions which most men 
predicted, must prove abortive. I have laid it down as a 
rule for myself, never to oppose any scheme of benevolence, 
where the end was good, the means lawful, and the motives 
pure ; and, in regard to the Colonization Society, I am con- 
strained to declare, that 1 have never known any enterprise 
in which selfish motives had so little opportunity for exer- 
cise ; and in which disinterested benevolence has been more 
clearly manifested. 

'"There is not upon earth a more wonderful phenomenon 
than the little Republic of Liberia, governed as it is, by men 
of as Bound wisdom as can be found in the counsels of any 
country : and what renders this tact so remarkable is, that 
these men have grown up in Africa, and received their train- 
ing in a country where, until lately, the most ferocious sa- 
vages only had their residence. 

'"In future ages, when the impartial historian surveys 
the events of the first half ''( the nineteenth century, he will 
be apt to fix on the planting of this colony, and the estab- 
lishment of this Republic, by a Society, unaided by Govern" 
ment, as the mosl remarkable achievement of the whole 
period. Perhaps it is one without a parallel in history.'" 



GoxrraiRSAvnoi! SZ2X 



" Dim through ihe night of these tempestuous years, 
A Sabbath dawn o'er Africa appears. 
At home the bonds of peace her tribes shall bind, 
Commerce abroad espouse them with mankind, 
While pure Religion's hand shall build and bless 
The Church of God amidst the wilderness." — Montgomery. 

'I notice in various publications of the day,' said Henry, 
1 that it has been proposed to establish in Liberia a Collegiate 
Institution ?' 

' Yes,' said Mr. L. ' the design is to educate the colored 
man in Africa, to prepare him for that freedom which he 
can there, and there only, enjoy without alloy, but which, 
without mental and moral culture, would prove worse than 
slavery itself. The Society which undertakes this, (the Socie- 
ty for the Promotion of Education in Africa.) hopes to " have 
a bearing on the interests of the colored race in our own 
country by the reflux influence of the moral elevation of 
Africa itself." The establishment of a College in Liberia 
has long been a favorite idea with many prominent friends 
of the African race. Believing that knowledge is power ; 
and that self-preservation even, whether of the individual or 
a people, is not secure by physical force alone ; they have 
looked forward to the location of such an institution in 
Western Africa as an object of great interest. As intelli- 
gence creates resources, opens channels of wealth, extends 
commerce, improves the arts, establishes manufactures, gives 
permanence and honor to a community; and when founded 
in moral principle, raises the standard of human character, 
securing domestic virtue and national prosperity ; so it al- 
so throws a shield of protection around liberty, life, and 



323 COLLEGE IS LIBERIA. 

property. The colored race cannot be effectually disenthrall* 
ed from their present degradation, except as they enjoy the 
blessings of a good education, Great pains have been taken 
for the establishment of primary or common schools in the 
colonies, and for extending the benefits of elementary in- 
struction to all classes of the children. The Society pro- 
poses to extend these principles Still farther, having special 
reference in its operations to the benighted tribes scattered 
over the continent. A college is needed to give efficacy to 
all these institutions, and to follow up to its full blessing 
the good work nobly begun. 

'A philanthropic arid judicious writer in the New-York 
Observer has these very sensible remarks in respect to the 
location of such an institution in Liberia : — " Great changes 
are in progress. It requires no prophetic vision to perceive 
that the di-stinies of the African race are opening and hright- 

. The elevation of many individuals i-; not to lie pre- 
vented by slander or unkind treatment There are among 
them Borne of nature's noblemen in intellectual power, no 
less than in physical structure. Their redemption from ig- 
norance and abjectness at home, and the melioration of their 
state in foreign exile, hasten on with rapid stride. T!. 
nius of the age, and the intimations of the divine will, point 
to such results. Selfish interests and persona] prejudices 
die with men, while time rolls on its tide without our aid or 
consent. Some of these changes will be accelerated, not re- 
tarded, by the rod of oppre rion. Men of cultivated in- 

I and various talent will he wanted among the p 
of color, as soon as they can he educated. They are to oc- 
cupy responsible stations, and {>< do a momentous work. 
They are to prosecute researches into tlie geography and 
commercial re ourcea ■ ■: Africa; t.. establish a republic on 
its west. 'i-n coast, and to publish tb Saviour 

to its superstitious tribes. 1. i- contrary to all analogy to 
suppose otherwise. White men may make establish]] 
commercial and religious, on the capes and islands of that 



COLLEGE IN LIBERIA. 329 

continent, but it is for men of color to pass up its rivers, to 
cultivate its valleys, and introduce the arts and institutions 
of a Christian land through its wide extent of surface. It 
is for men of color to found schools and churches, pursue 
its agriculture and commerce, and conduct the whole ma- 
chinery, on which depends the wealth, prosperity, and ele- 
vated character of this infant republic. 

' " There is a strong sympathy with the African race. 
It can hardly be restrained by sober judgment and a regard 
to the principles of common justice. It seeks to find out 
channels in which its exuberant compassion may flow forth. 
That race, in the mystery of Providence, has been subjected 
to much suffering. To say that many have endured a long 
bondage, a period of exile from the land of their fathers, 
like the slavery of Jacob's family in Egypt, or the captivity 
of Judah in Assyria, is only a declaration of historical facts. 
And this injury has be^n inflicted by the most intelligent 
and Christian nations on the globe. That a rich return is 
to be made to their descendants in the arts of civilized life, 
and in the inestimable blessings of the Christian religion, 
cannot well admit a doubt. * * If we stop with the rudi- 
ments of knowledge, we only begin the work. The paths 
of science are not trod, the powers of the intellect are not 
developed, the dignity of our nature is not fully displayed. 
No historian records a nation's annals, and no poet writes 
its songs ; no astronomer marks the phenomena of the hea- 
vens, and no geologist digs into the treasures of the earth. 
"Without a college, there are no profound scholars, no ele- 
gant writers, no large libraries, no inquiries into the anti- 
quities of past ages, or into the aspects of future times. 
Soon will the common school lower its standard, if there 
is no higher institution. Soon will the general intelligence 
of a people decline, if there arc no learned men, with whom 
they are conversant and to whom they may look as 
examples. Soon will the authority of the Bible be veiled 
in doubts, if there are none who are competent to read it3 



330 COLLEGE IN LIBERIA. 

ancient languages, demonstrate its divine origin, and an- 
swer the cavils of infidels. There is no security against a 
retrograde movement in any human society, but in a con- 
stant effort to advance. 

■ •• Who are to navigate their ships? "Who are to teach 
their children ? Who are to be the pastors of their church- 
es? Who are to be their legislators, governors, judges? 
Who are to lay the sure, foundations of an intelligent, vir- 
tuous, and happy republic? Who are to extend a civilizing 
influence over hundreds of petty trilies along a coast of 
thne thousand miles and into regions of the interior, as 
yet untraversed by Europeans? It sickens the heart to 
hear it suggested that the ignorant and vicious are to be 
entrusted with these stupendous interests, which involve the 
dearest hopes of many generations, and on which depends 
the successful prosecution of one of the noblest enterprises 
which has ever blest humanity in 4his or any other age. 
It sickens the heart to think that its government may de- 
generate into anarchy, and its religion into fanaticism, that 
its energies may be exhausted in selfish and mercenary 
speculations, until the slave-trade shall be renewed where 
it is now extinct, and the arts of war supplant the peace- 
ful pursuits of agriculture and the manufactures. It sickens 
the heart to think that many lives may have been sacrificed, 
and much treasure expended to little purpose, that tears 
have been shed and prayers offered in vain. The failure of 
Liberia, as the germ of a lice and prosperous republic, is 
not to be contemplated as possible. Hut there are various 
means to be employed to render the enterprise more sure. 
Among others, a liberal system of education is one which 
requires a college as an indispensable appendage.' 1 

'Amongst the reasons which this writer assigns for the 
location of such an institution in Liberia, are these: — "It 
will be in the land of the African race. That land is a con- 
tinent wide in territory, rich in resources, and open to the 
entrance of her own children. If three or four millions of 



COLLEGE IN LIBERIA. 331 

that race are dispersed in foreign lands, two hundred mil- 
lions are to be found on their native soil. Some thousands 
of freemen, who are advancing to wealth and higher distinc- 
tion, have made it their home. The native population is 
easily accessible* It places the pupils beyond the reach of 

* In reference to the opportunities and desire for instruction 
among the natives, which is indeed truly remarkable, Mr. Finney, 
who went from Georgia, as a missionary, under the Western Board 
of Foreign missions, reports, " Many of the children of the natives 
have seen what they call ' America man fash,' (fashion,) and through 
their report, and from their own observation, the natives in the 
vicinity of our settlements are informed as to the superiority of our 
knowledge, and desire to partake of the benefit. This desire exists, 
I will venture to say, at this hour in more than 100,000 of the natives 
in the neighborhood of our colonies. Most of the young men, sons 
of chiefs or headmen, act as servants, to bring wood and water, and 
go on errands, and perform all sorts of servile offices, for the sake of 
obtaining a smattering of the English tongue. It is the leading youth 
of the country, such as in their own tribe are considered as gentle- 
men and princes, who are in a particular manner anxious to learn 
our language, and adopt our customs. Who does not see, in this im- 
portant fact, the germ of Africa's future improvement?" 

In respect to another portion of the same continent, the Rev. J. 
L. Wilson, a missionary from South Carolina, in the employ of the 
American Board, says, in conjunction with his companion, Mr. 
Wynkoop, " along the whole coast where we have been, we uni- 
formly found the people desirous of schools ; and from what we have 
seen ourselves and heard from others, we are induced to believe 
there is not a town on the coast where a Christian teacher would not 
be heartily welcomed. We would confidently say, that there is a 
universal desire, nay, an imperious demand for Christian schools. 
Wherever it was made known to the inhabitants of the towns on the 
southern coast, that we were going to Cape Falmas for the purpose 
of teaching the natives, we received applications to send American 
teachers to their towns. Not unirequently they asked a written 
promise to this effect." At Rocktovvn they gave the king and his 
head men a written promise that a teacher should be sent them if 
possible. Yet, they say, "after we were distant 290 miles on our 
way home, we received a message from them, reminding us of our 
promise. This desire for schools has doubtless grown out of an ac- 
quaintance with civilized nations. From the example of a few 
natives whom we have seen pursuing their educations and the 



332 COLLEGE IN LIBEEIA. 

that oppressive power which they feel in this country, and 
they arc left to the influence of all the high and inspiring 
motives of ambition, honor, and usefulness. In these States, 
in the vicinity of their enslaved brethren, they are dispirited. 

They do not find themselves stimulated by the prospect of 
emolument, or office, or equal rank. Why should they 
study ? Why aspire to learn I "What is the reward of dili- 
gence? Besides they do not dun enjoy the facilities of in- 
struction and books, which fall to the lot of Other children, 
especially in early years. It is not chiefly any want of in- 
dustry or native talent which leaves them behind others of 
their age. This disparity can be satisfactorily traced to 
causes which cannot be removed till they are taken out of 
this stale of society and allowed to inhale a free atmosphere. 
Sec the African youth on his native soil, erect, gay. and 
buoyant; here he is depressed and downcast. There are 
some schools for children of color in this country, and many 
individuals of both sexes have made commendable improve- 
ment They have evinced sufficient capacity. But as a 
diffident child cannot look up in the pr f strangers, 

so they are oppressed with an incumbent load which no im- 
pulse of genius can enable them to shake off. A fair experi- 
ment in their education cannot be made in this country. 
The constitution of society forbids it. In their own land no 
distinction of color will remind of their exile, no frown of a 
master will check the rising emotion of joy, no exclusion from 
public office, and no inferiority of rank will chill the energy 
of the soul. Tame, and wealth, and official honor will in- 

earnestneei and facility with which they learn — we cannot think 
thai any judicious efforts to meet their desires in this respect will be 
fruit!' 

The Bev. Dr. Philip, of South Africa, furnishes testimony to the 
tame effeel respecting that portion of the continent; and what is 
amusing, re lutes that " one chief among the Caffre tribes of South 
Africa proposed lo purchase* missionary — and was willing to give 
one thousand bead of cattle for a teacher to come and live with him 

and instruct his people." 



COLLEGE IS LIBERIA. 333 

vite them to aspire to excellence, and reward their patient 
industry. Why should they not become learned in abstract 
and useful science ] Why should they not cultivate the fine 
arts, painting and sculpture, music and poetry ? Some of 
the colonists grow rich with great rapidity ; why should they 
not accumulate funds of knowledge"? Give them the oppor- 
tunity and the inspiring motive, and there is no uncertainty 
respecting the result. If a literary establishment should be 
made in the colony of Liberia, there is no apparent reason 
why it should not be perpetuated through the successive 
periods of its future history with enlarged resources and in- 
creasing usefulness. Pupils need not be wanting. The 
intelligent sons of native chiefs, the sons of colonists, young 
men of enterprise and talent in the West India Islands and 
the United States, may here find an asylum where they 
may prosecute their education without prejudice. This will 
stimulate the ambition of the native tribes; reward the 
fidelity of colonists who have borne the burden of the work, 
and elicit the talent of the race wherever it may be found. 
Especially may such a seminary prove to be a ' school of the 
the prophets,' where the Saviour of the world may prepare 
his servants to publish his gospel of mercy to the millions on 
that continent. Besides that continent is to be their future 
theatre of action. And it is an ample field. It is not a lit- 
tle island invironcd by the sea. It is not a section of coun- 
try where they will be exposed to encroachments from men 
of a different color and superior power. It is not in subjec- 
tion to a despotic government with which they can feel no 
sympathy, and in the administration of which they can as- 
pire to no share. Nor is its language, like that of Ilayti, in- 
telligible to a handful only of all the race. Nor is its reli- 
gion mystical and established by law, denying to individuals 
entire liberty of conscience in the worship of God. What- 
ever islands or sections of country may in the course of time 
fall into the possession of the people of color, the continent 
of Africa itself is the cradle and the home of the race. The 



334 COLLEGE IH LIBERIA. 

results of their enterprise and talent are to be exhibited 
there. In despite of all that philanthropy can accomplish, 
neither the United States nor the British Islands will furnish 
an inviting held to men of color for half a century to come. 
As they advance to wealth and knowledge, they will resort 
to the father land, whether for culture or commerce. They 
will seek it as an asylum, a home. There will be no need 
of external compulsion or constraint. Nor will they wait 
for pecuniary aid. It will not be easy to retain them to hew 
wood and draw water in other lands. They will there be 
the proprietors of the soil which they cultivate, enjoy a go- 
vernment which they themselves administer, and introduce 
the religion of their enlightened choice. And shall the want 
of a few thousand dollars prevent the immediate com- 
mencement of a work so imperiously demanded by the 
wants of a whole race ? Will not the statesman, the philan- 
thropist, the rich merchant, give to this enterprise a candid 
investigation and a liberal patronage? And especially may 
it not be commended with confidence to Him who controls 
the destinies of nations, and who is pleased with the good 
conduct and highest happiness of men ?"" 

4 Such an institution,' said Henry, 'would reflect great 
honor upon its founders, and I am sure would greatly en- 
courage the hope of Africa's final triumphs.' 



(DOTVosMTOn sssnn. 



11 Lo ! once in triumph on his boundless plain, 
The quiver'd chief of Congo lov'd lo reign ; 
With fires proportion'd to his native sky, 
Strength in his arm, and lightning in his eye ! 
Scour'd with wild feet his sun-illumin'd zone, 
The spear, the lion, and the woods his own ! 
Or led the combat, bold without a plan, 
An artless savage, but a fearless man! 
The plunderer came : — Alas, no glory smiles 
For Congo's chief on yonder Indian isles, 
For ever fallen ! no son of nature now, 
With freedom charter'd on his brow : 
Faint, bleeding, bound, he weeps the night away, 
And, when the sea-wind wafts the dewless day, 
Starts, with a bursting heart for ever more 
To curse the sun that lights the guilty shore." — Campbell. 

'There is one subject,' said Mr. L. 'that I meant to have 
noticed before, and that is the importance of some better 
understanding between our own government and others, in 
respect to the right of search. By treaties between some 
of the powers, the mutual right of search is conceded to the 
government vessels of each nation, of such merchant vessels 
of the other as may be reasonably suspected of being en- 
gaged in the slave-trade, or which have been fitted out with 
that intent, or that, during the voyage in which they are 
met with by said cruisers have been employed in the slave- 
trade ; and the said cruisers are authorized to detain them, 
and send or conduct them to one of the places appointed by 
the convention of treaty fur trial; this mutual right of search 
not to be exercised in any part of the Mediterranean sea, nor 
in the seas of Europe which lie north of latitude 37, and east 
of longitude 20 W. from Greenwich. To prevent difficul- 
ties and injuries winch might otherwise arise, it has been 



S33 ELAVE-TRADE. 

provided, that when vessels of either nation shall be arbitra- 
rily and illegally detained by the cruisers of the other, the 
government whose cruisers have caused the detention, shall 
indemnify the owners, &c. of the vessels fur all damage re- 
sulting therefrom, which is to be determined agreeably to 
provisions made for that purpose. Such a treaty between 
the United Stales and other friendly powers, would greatly 
facilitate the absolute abolition of the slave-trade. I say ab- 
solute abolition of it, for it is a painful and notorious fact, 
that notwithstanding all the precautions that arc now used, 
vessels are fitted out from some of our own ports by unprin- 
cipled men, whose vile purpose is obvious, but who escape 
with impunity, because the proper officers cannot arrest ves- 
sels without proof of their having violated the law, by the 
commission of overt acts. A law giving to our local autho- 
rities and naval officers, powers over American vessels, 
touching this matter, similar to those which Great Britain 
exercises over her commerce; and especially, if practicable, 
an understanding with foreign powers which shall concede a 
limited and mutual power similar to that to which 1 have, 
already adverted; and the presence of a few American crui- 
sers on the African coast, to co-operate with those of other 
nations authorized to destroy the slave-factories and barra- 
coons wherever they may be found on the coast, would 
greatly hasten the final and total extinction of the trade.' 

'But I am surprised. Pa,' said Caroline, 'to hear that 
there are any yet remaining in our own country who would 
clandestinely engage in the African slave-trade, and that it 
is possible for vessels to sail from our shores to be so cm- 
ployed. 1 

'It is lamentably true, as it is surprising. By recent in- 
formation from Africa, it appears that American built ves- 
sels are regularly engaged in this accursed trade. The way 
of procuring them is said to be as follows: — "Mercantile 
houses in the Havana, and other ports in Cuba and Porto 
Rico, send orders for fast sailing vessels to their correspon- 



SLAVE-TRADE. 337 

dents here, of course saying nothing about their being de- 
signed for slavers. When launched, they are frequently 
equipped at Baltimore and New-York. Even the shackles 
for securing the slaves, and the gratings to cover the hatches, 
not unfrequently go from this country ; though a part of the 
latter are sometimes prepared on board. The shackles are 
put up in barrels, and shipped as merchandise. The crews 
are principally Spanish and Portuguese, French and Dutch 
Creoles, and a sort of Lingua-Franca-men, of no nation, or 
rather of all nations, belonging nowhere, or everywhere, and 
speaking all the Atlantic languages. Some of them picked 
up in New-York or Baltimore for the voyage, and others 
after she arrives in the Havana. These are all desperadoes. 
Some of the crew, I am sorry to say, are said to be, in some 
instances, Americans, who sometimes do not know the na- 
ture of the voyage until they arrive on the coast of Africa. 
The slaver sails from our port as an American vessel under 
the American flag, with American papers, and appears like 
a regular trader. She goes to the Havana, is denationaliz- 
ed, receives a new name, and takes Spanish colors and Span- 
ish papers. Sometimes, but rarely, this is done at the Cape 
de Verd Islands. These vessels sometimes put into Sierra 
Leone ; but, as all appears fair and smooth, and strictly en 
regie, it is impossible to prove that they are slavers."' 

' Where, Sir, are the slaves which they obtain carried?' 

'Some have been carried to Brazil; some to the Spanish 
Islands, from whence they have been smuggled in considera- 
ble numbers into Guadaloupe and Martinique. 

'Are those places from whence slaves are now obtained 
remote from the colonies of Liberia and Sierra Leone V 

1 Yes ; there are no slave-factories from Cape Palmas 
eastward, for several degrees of longitude. But to show 
you the extent of the trade on different parts of the Af- 
rican coast, probably at this moment, I will mention the 
establishments which through the colony at Liberia were 
ascertained to exist beyond the reach of any colo-ny's pre 

15 



038 SLAVE-TRADE. 

sent influence. Some of these I am happy to say have been 
broken up by the extension of Liberia. This information 
you will find communicated in the Colonization Herald for 
December 19, 1835. I give it as it was communicated: — 
M At Bissao, a Portuguese settlement near Gambia, it is 
carried on extensively, but not "with the open countenance 
of the local government. The River Pongas, 120 miles 
north of Sierra Leone, is an extensive slave-market. The 
river is navigable for large vessels GO or 80 miles, and has 
several slave-factories on its banks. About 2000 slaves arc 
carried away annually. Three of the gentlemen who com- 
municated these facts saw seven slavers in the river at a 
time. At the mouth of the Shelear river, a little south of 
Sherbro Island, a considerable number are sold annually. 
The mouth of the Gallinas is the great slave-mart north of 
Cape Palmas. At this place are two very largo factories, 
with their appropriate suite of barracoons, or out-buildings 
to house the slaves, as they are sent in by the neighboring 
chiefs. These factories are about 120 feet in length, are 
handsomely fitted up, and elegantly furnished. They are 
occupied by two Spaniards, whose names we know, one of 
whom is very rich. They are said to have their regular 
agents in (two cities in these States !) No less than eight 
thousand slaves are annually shipped from this one place. 
Slavers are almost always lying there. They saw four 
slavers at the Gallinas in I ►ctober last. One of them was 
t<> sail on the 11th <>r 15th, with 460 slaves on board. Two 
of our informants saw them dancing in two circles on the 
beach. At Sugrj River and Gape Mount, about SO miles 
north of Monrovia, a considerable Dumber are sold every 
year. They saw two slavers lying there in October. Cape 
Mesurado was formerly an extensive Blave-market before 
the settlement of .Monro v ia. It i> now wholly broken up. 

The aame is true, in a degree of the mouth of Junk River. 
( me of the gentlemen has seen the remains of the old slave 
factory, which stood near the mouth of John's Kiver, before 



GREAT EXTENT OK COAST EXPOSED. 339 

Edina and Bassa Cove were planted. In 1834, before the 
purchase of Bassa Cove, 500 were shipped from that place, 
in a single month. Since then the slavers have left the 
river. Sestras Eiver is, as they suppose, the only remain- 
ing regular slave-market between Cape Palmas and Mon- 
rovia ; and in the numbers which it furnishes annually, 
is probably inferior only to the Gallinas. In addition to 
this, the slavers lie at anchor for a few days, in numerous 
other places along the coast, where no factories have been 
erected, to pick up the slaves in the immediate neighbor- 
hood, who have been just taken in war. The captains of 
the slavers are generally men of polished manners and 
gentlemanly appearance. One of them was, some time 
ago, particularly kind to the captain of the vessel in which 
one of our informants sailed ; sending him a case of claret, 
and utterly refusing all compensation. The slavers are all 
sharp built vessels, intended expressly for fast sailers. They 
mount commonly one gun, sometimes as many as eighteen. 
The one gun is a long 32 pounder ; and, where there are 
more, some are always of this description. * At least 100 
slavers are to be found annually between the river Pongas 
and the Bight of Benin, including both. The following 
places in the Bight of Benin are extensive slave-markets, 
with regular factories : Badagry Point, Lagos River, Benin 
River, the River Nun, and more especially on Brass River, 
one of its bayous. The following are similar establishments 
on the Bight of Biafra : Old Calebar River, the Camaroons, 
the River Gaboon, and Cape Lopez. The slavers in the 
Bight of Biafra are at present exceedingly numerous, and 
are spoken of as amounting to hundreds .'"* 

* We copy the following account of the slave-trade from a letter 
in the Boston Journal, by an officer on board one of our ships on the 
African station, dated 1851 : — 

' I very much regret to say, that for a long time the greatest facili- 
ties for carrying on the slave-trade have been afforded by the pros- 
titution of our flag. I believe full one half of the negroes shipped 



3-40 GREAT EXTENT OF COAST EXPOSED. 

'But the area of the slave-trade lias recently been 
greatly contracted, as 1 have before suggested, by the exten- 
sion of Liberia. Still, however, it exists beyond the reach 
of the colonics. 

from the Congo southward, have been made in vessels under its 
cover. 

' The position which the United States occupies upon the right of 
visitation and search is such, that a '• bona fide " American vessel 
cannot be molested by B British cruiser, even with a full cargo of 
negroes on board. England, by treaty or convention, lias secured 
the right under certain restrictions of visiting and searching all sus- 
pected vessels, except those wearing the American tlag ; such are 
sacred, and thus guarded, may embark hundreds of slaves under the 
guns of the British Commodore himself, avoid all interruption from 
foreign cruisers, and by hoisting the Brazilian flag may escape cap- 
ture by our own. 

' Now, I believe I know my duty as an officer too well to find 
fault with the acts of my Government, but alter two years' service 
and experience as an African cruiser, and not wholly without obser- 
vation, 1 am free to say, that could the United States authorities con- 
sistently make an exception to the general rule, so as to allow 
vessels notoriously engaged in the slave-trade to be detained by tho 
British cruisers and delivered up to our own, the disgraceful traffic 
would be greatly curtailed, and especially would the vile prostitution 
of our Hag be prevented. 

'As to the entire suppression of the slave-trade by the present 
■VStem of blockade, I must confess I am thoroughly skeptical. Ill 

spite of the sleepless vigilance and constant motion of the numerous 
cruisers hovering along this coast, it is estimated that no less than 

thirty thousand were, during the past year, sent into bondage from 
nthward of the Voltee. Sir Charles Hotham, the late able 
commander of Her Britannic Majesty's naval force on the African 
(West) station, having at his disposal a most effective force; and after 
two fears of active and laborious service, failed to do more than 
partially interrupt it, and is clearly of the opinion that other instru- 
mentalities must be nsed for it! eradication. The means he relies 
in-, t upon is Colomuatim — particularly as exemplified in the Liberian 
Colonies; ■ fact which is no less interesting than pl eas ing to Ameri- 
cans, being a just tribute to the sagacity and enlightened philanthropy 

of die founders and friends of our Colonization scheme. 

• Loando, the capital of the Portogneee provinces of Angola, has a 
fine harbor, and looks well from the sea— but it may well be said 



OUR NATIONAL ARMED VESSELS. 341 

' I have seen it objected,' said Henry, ' to the colony of 
Liberia, that it has not siqjpressed the slave-trade : but 
both that and the colony at Sierra Leone have certainly 
done something, if they have not yet accomplished every 
thing.' 

'It is unreasonable in the extreme,' said Mr. L. 'for any 
thus to object. To break up the slave-trade on that whole 
extended coast will require time, and the planting of other 
colonies, and the aid of Christian governments. It is cer- 
tainly a matter of great gratulation that so much has been 
done.' 

'Are not our national vessels occasionally cruising upon 
the African coast? I am sure, I think I have seen frequent 
accounts of them there,' said Henry. 

'They occasionally visit the colonies: but we have not 
rendered that aid and protection which we ought to have 
done. Especially does that coast demand our regard "in 
consideration of the fact that the regular legal trade with 
Africa is carried on chiefly by American vessels. It is to 
be hoped that our Government will take this subject in hand, 
and that there will be some efficient action in unison with 
other powers, for the suppression of the trade. Then not 
only will the native African 

that " distance lends enchantment to the view ;" it is emphatical- 
ly a whited sepulchre." When the slave-trade was at the zenith. 
Loando was a place of great opulence, as evidenced in the numerous 
large and palace-like residences, the grand and magnificent churches, 
convents, and nunneries — the latter, with few exceptions, being in a 
state of ruin and decay. The Jesuits early turned their attention to 
Angola as a field lor their operations, and their fortunes seemed to 
wax and wane with the slave-trade ; while this prospered, they flour- 
ished, and the monuments of their zeal and energy are numerous and 
striking. But their zeal and energy have outstripped the decadence 
of the traffic — the fraternity is now unrepi-esented by a living man 
— their splendid temples are now the habitations only for the moles 
and the bats, or the workshops for convicts guilty of the foulest 
crimes.' 



342 OCR NATIONAL ARMED VESSELS. 

"drink at noon 
The palm's rich nectar, and lie down at eve 
In the green pastures of remembered days, 

Ami w:ilk. t" wander and to weep do more 

Ou Congo's mountain-coast, and Gambia's golden shore;" 

but the prosperity of the colonies planted there will be 
greatly promoted, and rendered far more efficient than they 
can otherwise be.* Besides, the reproach will be taken 
away from us which 1 had the mortification of reading this 
morning from a paragraph in one of the papers professedly 
devoted to the cause of the colored race in these words: — 
'•True, America has proscribed the foreign trade, on parch- 
ment; and that is all. For to this hour, she stands aloof, 

* The influence of Liberia is seen in the following from the Li- 
beria Herald : 

"Thk Sr..\vK-Tit auk no go on tiik Liberia Coast. — The Por- 
tuguese Felucca, which lias been dodging abonl lure for several 
. and seen frequently off Gallinas, New Cestors and Trade 
Town, has abandoned her purpose of procuring slaveafrom this part 
of the African coast. She was boarded off Gallinas, soon after her 
arrival on the coast, by an officer of Her Majesty's brig ' Wolverine. 1 
She, however, was not detained, the officer finding nothing on hoard 
which could be produced in evidence to condemn her as a slaver. 
It has been ascertained since, that while the ■ Wolverine ' was in 
chase of her, the fellows threw overboard her slave equipment, and 
thus escaped being seized. Finding Gallinas closely watched, she 
proceeded to Trade Town, where the supercargo landed, and, it is 
said, offered cash for a hundred slaves, payable in doubloons, on de- 
livery to him at the beach, on a certain day. The authorities, in the 
mean time, had obtained information of the real character of the res- 

sel, and of the landing of a person from her at Trade Town, and 
without delay dispatched the Government schooner ' Lark ' to cruise 
offNew Cestors and Trade Town to watch her movements, and to 
■eue ber upon the first attempt to contravene our laws. Captain 
Patten, of H< r Majesty's brig • Hound,' senior officer of the Sierra 
Leone Division, had also received intelligence thai the Felucca was 
idler slaves, and, in company with the ' Heroiue,' was in search of 
her. These mo ve ments, and the constant presence of the' Lark' 
off Trade Town, alarmed the captain, and he precipitately sailed for 

the south coast, leaving her supercargo OH shore at Trade Town." 



OUR NATIONAL ARMED VESSELS. 343 

and -will not come into such arrangements with foreign pow- 
ers, as are indispensable to an effectual execution of the law. 
A British cruiser gives chase to a slaver — up go American 
colors ! America denies the right of search in the case, and 
off goes the slaver untouched and unharmed. Thus does 
America nullify her own law, and, so far as she can, the 
laws of all other civilized powers, and unfurl her flag for the 
escape and protection, rather than the arrest and punishment 
of the slaver?"' 



geineto of tire MIr.ole Subject. 



" The great characteristics which have marked the progress of 
every nation, iu every age, have eventually resulted in the accom- 
plishment of some grand design in which the hand of Providence, 
though for a time obscured by shadows, has been at last clearly and 
distinctly seen." — Com. Stockton. 

I shall now, before I close this humble attempt at a plea 
for Africa, take a brief review of the general subject of the 
preceding conversations. 

Three millions of the African race are scattered through 
fifteen of the States of the American Union, in a condition 
of servitude. Others, in large numbers, probably not less 
than half a million, are dispersed through the country gene- 
rally, and are nominally free. 

The race was introduced here when we were colonists, 
subject to British law. They were forced upon us when 
they were at the lowest point of humanity, heathens and 
barbarians. Their civil, social and religious condition, be- 
fore they were brought to our shores, was forlorn and 
wretched, almost beyond the possibility of aggravation. 

They were here in a civilized and christian country. 
There being placed here had, although man meant it not, a 
redeeming influence upon them. Opportunities of enlight- 
enment were enjoyed which they would not have had in 
Africa ; and, without palliating the hardships of slavery, it 
may be truly said, they have been generally better off, safer 
and happier in consequence.* They have been instruct- 

* The author does not mean to lose sight of the fact that the loss 
of personal liberty, however degraded an individual may previously 
have been, is a sore trial, for which nothing on earth seems to com- 
pensate. He acknowledges too, that the relation of master and slave 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 345 

ed in the arts of civilized life ; many of them have been 
taught the rudiments of a common education ; some have 
enjoyed higher advantages ; and upon thousands and tens 
of thousands of them Christianity has exerted a healing, 
saving power. 

The existence of the institution of slavery among us, 
has proved the source of great inquietude, and accumulated 
and still accumulating evils. Many of the wisest and best 
men in the slave-holding States have from the earliest 
period of the introduction of slavery among us, regretted 
the existence of the institution, deplored the evils attending 
it, anticipated increasing troubles, and speculated with anx- 
iety in regard to the future. Emancipations in considerable 
numbers occurring from year to year, seemed only to 
threaten an increase of trouble, long before any jealousies 
were excited between North and South. Still, emancipations 
of individuals and of families were, and still are, constantly 
taking place ; and this, as well as the natural increase of free 
blacks, would seem, wholly irrespective of modern abolition, 
to be bringing us near the time when there must be a strife 
between the whites and the blacks, if they persist in remain- 
ing together. 

Difficulties, besides those growing necessarily out of the 
relation and the existence together of two races, have arisen. 
Individuals and associations in the non-slave-holding States, 
not content to trust the South to attend to their own busi- 
ness, have long been in the habit of denouncing the holding 
of slaves as a sin, and among the very worst of crimes ; the 
owners of slaves have been declared " man-stealers, robbers, 
pirates, murderers," and whilst immediate and unconditional 

may be, and doubtless is, sometimes the occasion of injustice and 
cruelty beyond the mere deprivation of freedom. But this also is 
time of the relation of husband and wife, parent and child, master 
and apprentice, employer and employed in our free system of labor. 
The abuses of a system or relation, form no sound argument against 
the system or relation itself. 

15* 



340) REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 

abolition has been demanded, the work of agitation has been 
carried forward ; demagogues have mounted the whirlwind; 
and even the declaration that slavery furnishes a sufficient 
cause for the dissolution of the Union,* has become with not 
a few a prominent article in their political creed! The ci- 
tizens of the slave-holding States have, therefore, felt them- 
selves aggrieved, have considered their rights in peril, and 
have demanded new guarantees of security against annoy- 
ance and the threatened calamities of civil war. They have, 
moreover, in their turn, in considerable numbers, threatened 
the secession of the Southern States. 

The general Government has thus been agitated, com- 
promise after compromise has proved only the means of 
postponing, rather than of settling the vexed question; until 
a climax seems to have been reached that, in the appre- 
hension of the wisest men in both sections of our country, 
has been regarded as fearfully portentous of danger. 

That a difference of opinion should exist in regard to 
the institution of slavery, is not strange; especially when 
we take into view the manner of its introduction among us, 
and all the circumstances of the case as it presents itself at 
the South; and more especially when it is considered that 
if Blavery be a sin. th ■ North were as deeply involved in 
the guilt as long as slave-labor was found to be profitable, 
as the South; were chiefly engaged in the slave-trade as 
long as it was tolerated ; have pocketed the pecuniary fruits 
of the traffic ;f and have never yet exhibited a preparedness 

* It is difficult to see li"\v a dissolution of the Union is to be of 
any benefit to Ihe slave, or to aid an objeel of philanthropy. 

t I could wish, for the honor of my ancestry, as a New England- 
er, that the poor Indians had never subjects of the same cruel lust 
for gain. The multitudes of them that were sent to Madeira and 
other places and sold as slaves under the express sanction of Pilgrim- 
law. the disappearance almost entirely of that noble race; and the 
fact that our philanthropy has never been greatly moved in sympa- 
thy for the Red-man; furnish a sad comment upon the denuncia- 
tions now burled against another portion of our common country. 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 347 

to bear an equitable part in the expense of the removal of 
the evil. Differences of opinion will exist — conscientious 
differences too, constituted as mankind are, in relation to 
moral questions. Some believe the law of property which 
enables one man to hold what they insist is the common 
gift of the Creator to his children, is sin. Shall those who 
dissent from this opinion, or other opinions which are 
among the peculiarities of our age, be driven from the 
Union, or compelled by fire and sword to yield 1 Tor td- 
trais?ris, which are always the fruit of the abuse of reason in 
the first instance, and then of a proposed abuse of power, 
the plea of conscience is ever at hand — whether in the burn- 
ing of heretics, the hanging of witches, or kindling the flame 
of civil war. So conscientious are some people, that a brok- 
en compact and oceans of blood are no crime, nor are con- 
sequences to be regarded at all, whether as respects their 
own kindred and friends, or the race for whom their sym- 
pathies are professedly awakened. 

' Let any man gaze long and absorbingly at some par- 
ticular feature of a question, and his mind will be liable to 
err ; the feature which absorbs his vision will preclude the 
possibility of a comprehensive view of the subject. Besides, 
it is, with many, always easier to condemn than to judge 
correctly ; easier to get into a passion, and use abusive epi- 
thets, than to obtain a comprehension of the subject in dis- 
cussion in its length and breadth ; easier to be interested 
about the duties of others than to attend to our own ; easier 
to agitate than practically and self-denyingly to act the part 
of the good Samaritan.' 

' If slavery is to be extinguished at once in the land, the 
burden of the purchase, that is, of the value surrendered, 
should in justice be borne by the whole country : are we 
ready to meet the duty and to pay the price? If we are, 
humanity obliges us to another question : Are the slaves, as. 
a whole, prepared to be turned loose upon the community 



848 KEVIKW OK THE WHOLE, 

without restraint?* Have they the culture, the training, 
the experience necessary to self-independence? And fur v 
ther: what is to be their hope for the future? Are they to 
be a marked, degraded being, through all time; or are we 
prepared to place them on an equality with us, social and 
civil ?' 

The present condition of the free colored man in this 
country is truly disheartening. The future appears to be 
hopeless. No man nourishes in a state of conscious inferi- 
ority; he must feel his equality before he can feel that he 
is in all respects a man. There are some privileges, it is 
evident from all the past as well as from the present, that 
no mere title to freedom, and, we may add, no enactments, 
no law, can confer. Laws may give political, but they can- 
not give social position. A legislature may empower the 
emancipated to hold property ami to vote. This has been 
done in some instances. But what shall remove the prejudice 
that exists on the part of the white population against asso- 
ciation? Can law change physical characteristics, or induce 
fathers to give their daughters to the colored man in mar- 
riage, or reconcile daughters to receive them as husbands. 
Is amalgamation between the races to be expected? But 
all history teaches only one lesson on this point — which is, 

* It is asserted l»y those who certainly have no sympathy with 
Hlavery, that it would result in this ; that tens of thousands of them 
would at once fill our prisons and poor-houses, whilst others would 
live by plunder; and we are referred to the daily reports of trials 
before our criminal courts in the free States : thongfa the free people 
of Color are few in number in comparison with the whites, u vast 
majority of the subjects, it is said, are people of color. 

The slave is protected, restrained, and provided for by his mas- 
ter; thfl free black is left to shift for himself, and it is upon him that 

the agencies that are hostile to his elevation principally operate. 
During the year 1850, the total immigration to the Dnitod States 

from all foreign countries can hardly have been less than -100.000 

persons, persons of a class thai at once enter into competition with 
the black man in all the avenues of labor, and, in most of them, 
drive him to the wall. 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 349 

that two races which cannot amalgamate by intermarriage, 
can exist in the same land only in the relation of master and 
slave, or, if both are nominally free, in that of the op>pressor 
and the oppressed. 

The opinion is not here hazarded that in all political or 
civil privileges the colored man can be placed on an equality 
with the white man : for observation thus far forbids the hope 
— especially does the course of legislation in the non-slave- 
holding States : but suppose such obstacles may be over- 
come; how many generations first will have gone down to 
their graves! — and will the social disabilities come to an 
end? 

What then shall the colored man do] Does not the na- 
ture of the evil suggest the remedy % If the two races can- 
not live together in the relations that constitute equality, 
will it not be Avell for them to separate 1 Is not the coloni- 
zation of the free the only remedy % He need not always 
be a serf. Educated here amidst republican institutions, 
though deprived of a participation in the rights of govern- 
ment, he may take with him the seed which, planted in 
another soil, will grow into the living tree of liberty, under 
whose branches his children and his children's children may 
repose in security and happiness. Thus the land of his 
seeming desolation, becomes the nursery of new thoughts 
and new hopes, tending to his elevation as a moral and in- 
tellectual being.* 

* " When, from any cause, a family or a nation cease to live in 
harmony, a separation, or colonization, it you please, is, and ever 
has been, ihe remedy. All colonizations, too, have been alike, with 
some differences in the impelling motive ; leaving out of view the 
penal colonies of different countries, and some pauper emigrants 
from Europe to the United States, the colonists have left their old 
homes to better their condition; and of this character must be the 
colonization of the free colored people of the United States. They 
must go for their own good. As a class, they are belter able to do 
so than the Irish and German emigrants who come in ship-loads to 
America. They have, when destitute, generally more friends to 
help them than these have." — Latrobe. 



350 REVIEW OF THE WIIOLE. 

But when shall he go? To be truly free and happy, he 
must, tor ought that now appears, look to the land which 
God has given him. Who, in lucking at Liberia, can fail 
to foresee the destiny of the colored man, or to recognize 
the hand of Providence I From the birth of that new lie- 
public the colored man may date his progress.* 

• What would these United States have been at this 
moment without colonization? It has done much for the 
white man! They might have remained in Europe. See 
the changes too which in the lapse of a single generation are 

* The advantages of Liberia over Canada and the West Indies, 
were sufficiently hint.-d in the extracts of Mr. Birney's letter, given 
in a previous chapter. We add the following, however, from the 
Evening Post, London, which says; — Wm. Wells Brown, formerly 
a slave in the United States, addresses a very sensible letter to the 
London Times on ihe condition of the fugitive slaves in England. 
H.- says, very many of those who have been compelled to fly into 
Canada from persecutions, resulting from ihe late fugitive law, are 
without employment : and as these people, he says, are mostly with- 
out education, and have but little knowledge of the mechanical 
branches, they find many difficulties in the way of getting employ- 
ment, and thereby earning for themselves an honest living. 

" Many of tie SB people have, n ithin the last six or eight months, 
gone to England to seek employment, and encounter the same diffi- 
culties there as in Canada, and consequently soon become a burden 
to the benevolent, or inmates of the •Unions.' He therefore recom- 
mends that provision he made for Bending SOCh of them as are bill- 
ing to go, to ihe Wesl [ndies, to labor in those islands where slavery 
has been abolished, and where a deficiency of labor is now ex- 
perienced." 

In reference to the proposition to send them to the West Indies, 
one of the editors of the Post, bavin- himself personal knowledge of 
the capabilities of the islands, remarks:— 

- Wages, in all the British Wesl Indies, are now at the starving 

point, and it would be madness for colored folks to go thrre in quest 
of labor. If, however Ihey have, or can procure B little capital, say 

from one to five hundred dollars, which they can afford to inv< st in 
Ihe soil then we should unhesitatingly advise them to seek a home 
in one of those islands, where the best of land can be bought at 

from Eve to ten dollars an acre, and where five acres will support a 
small family comfortably. " 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 351 

wrought in the condition of the families of the emigrating 
Germans and Irish ! The colored man may remain here — 
but generally it will be, at best, in the capacity of the shoe- 
black, the cook, or the barber, or as some menial.* He will 
not enjoy the full privileges of a man. 

More than this, our duty to the colored man is not con- 
find to the American continent only. As I have before 
said, we owe to Africa a debt. To use the language of 
Com. Stockton, in a recently published letter, " The hand 
of Providence seems to be clearly pointing out an ultimate 

* One of the citizens of Monrovia, in Liberia, Edward Blyden, in 
a recent letter dated December 9, 1851, to Rev. Mr. Finney, takes 
this enlightened view of the subject: — 

'Abolitionism is limited in its operations. Its object is only to 
deliver the colored man from a state of physical bondage, and leave 
him in social and political oppression; or, as some one has said, 
they point the colored man to the highest honors of the nation, and 
shut him out from them ; they tell him of privileges, and unite in 
debarring him from them. 

' Colonization is extensive in its operations : it releases the man 
from slavery, tells him of a land where he can enjoy uninterrupted 
freedom, and assists him in getting to it. It contributes to ihe intro- 
duction of civilization in Africa ; and it assists in repressing the slave- 
trade. Noble, generous cause ! Should not colored men of every 
grade appreciate it ? I am persuaded that the day is not very dis- 
tant, when the colored people of the United States will flock to 
these shores, as the Irish and Dutch are now flocking to America. 

' From what I see, I gather the impression that Colonization 
is gaining favor in various parts of the world. Where are those 
famous Abolitionists ? Do they perceive the superiority of the system 
of Colonization above theirs, which only causes agitation, and does 
more real injnr) r to the class of persons in whose welfare they pro- 
fess to be interested than good ? Are they ashamed to acknowledge 
the superiority of the colonization scheme ? Let them look at Li- 
beria, a nation living in the enjoyment of all the rights and privileges 
of men, — the result of thirty years' labor of the American Coloniza- 
tion Society. Can the Anti-slavery societies point us to any real 
good that has accrued to the colored race through their exertions ! — 
If not, why not come forward and acknowledge the inefficiency of 
their scheme, and adopt more judicious measures for the promotion 



352 KEVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 

design in all this arrangement of tilings. Yonder is Africa, 
with her millions of miserable, degraded, ignorant, lawless, 
superstitious idolaters. Whoever lias stood upon her Bands, 
lias stood upon a continent thai lias geographical and physi- 
cal peculiarities which belong to no other of the great divi- 
sions of the globe. The latter appear upon the face of them, 
to have been adapted to draw out the energies of the natives 
in their inequalities of temperature, soil, and surface, invit- 
ing the ingenuity and enterprise of man to overcome them, 
and in the varieties of their products tempting the inter- 
change of commerce; thus affording ample encouragement 
to the progress of civil and social improvement. But 
Africa is still as of old, a land of silence and of mystery. — 
Like the interminable dreariness of her own deserts, her 
moral wastes of mind lie waiting for the approach of influ- 
ences from abroad. No savage people have ever advanced 
to a civilized state without intercommunication with others. 
All the continents of the world have, in their turn, been 
occupied and civilized by means of colonies; but in no one 
of them did it appear so inevitabh necessary, from a pre- 
vious examination of circumstances, as in that of Africa. It 
is plain to the very eye, that Africa is a land to which civi- 
lization must be brought. The attempt has been made over 
and over again by devoted missionaries and others to pene- 
trate that land, and seek to impart the blessings of civiliza- 
tion and Christianity to her savage hordes. But the labor 
has been spent in vain. The white man cannot live in 
Africa. The annals of the Moravians, of I lape < iolony, of 
Sierra Leone, of Liberia, contain the records of the sacrifice 

of their purpose 1 Oolonizalionists have done permanent good, in 
that they have not only released the colored man from bondage, bnt 
have given him a home Eur from tie' land "f bis oppression. 'I'm y 
bave also provided a home I'm- every one who wishes to Bee from ili» 
honseof bondage. Can any Abolitionist look at Liberia, her \n-o- 
sent position among tli" nations of the earth, her wise ami jndicions 
government, herenU rprising citizens, and not testify to the i fficiency 
of the Colonization scheme ? 



REVIEW OF TUB WHOLE. 333 

of some of the best men that have lived to grace the pages 
of any people's history, in the vain attempt to accomplish 
something for her redemption through the instrumentality 
of white men. Who, then, is to do this work? 

" Let, now, any calm, reflecting spectator of the present 
state of the world be asked to look at Africa, and then, from 
among the nations point out the people best calculated to 
do this work — and when his eye falls upon the descendants 
of the sons of that continent now in America, will he not 
say, These are the people appointed for that work ? 

" The ways of God are mysterious. So Joseph was 
sold a slave into Egypt ; so his father and brethren were 
driven thither by providential circumstances ; so their gene- 
rations remained as slaves in Egypt for four centuries and a 
half; and when the appointed time had come, in His own 
appointed way, the Ruler of nations led them to the accom- 
plishment of His great purposes." 

Not merely the germs of colonies are already there, en- 
couraging a prosecution of the good work, and giving earn- 
est of success, but the Republic of Liberia is there! The 
door is open. The experiment has been made. The suc- 
cess is great, without a parallel. 

Well did the Barbadoes African Colonization Society, 
in a recent address to the Select Committee of the British 
House of Commons, express their conviction that " it appears 
to have been the design of the Almighty Governor of the 
Universe, in permitting the great wrong, (of carrying away 
their forefathers from Africa,) that their descendants, reared 
in the circle of civilization, and acquiring a practical know- 
ledge of its usages and arts, and of the truths of the Gospel, 
might, in due time, be efficient instruments in the regenera- 
tion of their fatherland." 

Says that enlightened friend of humanity, the Rev. R. 
R. Gurlcy, who recently went out to Africa by appointment 
of the Government of the United States, to obtoin informa- 
tion in respect to Liberia, "Engaged in a work of unsur- 



354 REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 

1 dignity and importance, the inhabitants of this small 
Republic are aocomplishing more good, as 1 must believe, 
than any equal number of human beings, in private stations, 
on the face <>i' the globe." 

►Still, in too many instances, the free descendants of Af 
rica among us, cling to this country under all their disabili- 
ties, regardless of the claims of the land of their fathers nit- 
on them. This, perhaps is nut strange in view of the. un- 
wearied pains, worthy <>fa better cause, that have been made 
to prejudice them against the colonization movement, and 
to create wrong impressions of dut) .* 

Many, however, are of a better mind. Nay thousands 
are now looking towards Liberia with earnest desires to de- 
part, and to be co-workers with their brethren already there, 
in the great work in which they have been so signally pros- 
pered.f 

"■•Tlio coloniea we have settled in Africa would, ere this day, 
had become a Republic of power, bad the free negroes of the North 
been willing to become citizens of it. Rut, like the [araeliti a of did, 
who would, l>ut for the Divine interposition, have sacrificed their 
liberators in the wilderness, and returned to Egypl ; these liberat- 
ed descendants of Africa cannot he persuaded to look toward the 
land of their fathers. The millions of their colored bondmen (acre 
awaken no sympathy in their hearts. Their fixed and resoluted pur- 
pose appears to be to remain among the \\ hitea, and force themselves 
by progressive steps into a civil and social equality with ihem ; and 
it is chiefly with a view to strengthen themselves in these particular 
views and aspirations, that they band together under the abolition 

flag, and till OUT cities with threats of Vengeance against the white 
race, if the; shall dare to execute the laws in relation to fugitive 
■lave ■ " — Com. Stockton . 

t The following letter, copied from the Journal of Commerce, ex- 
hibits a spirit of manly independence which, in spite of proscription 
and denunciation, is being daily discovered among the free people 

of color, ami we have no doubt that the number of such instances 

will constantly increase \ 

To tiik Editor, Sib: — In your report of the proceedings of a 
meeting that was called for last Monday eveniug, you have given 
Jones credit for Baying what Mr. Putnam said, and Mr. Baylea for 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 355 

To assist in the removal of all of the free descendants of 
Africa who wish to go to the theatre of their future glory 
and usefulness, the American Colonization Society and its 
kindred auxiliaries, believe is a work both of humanity and 

what I, Jones, said. Now I desire distinctly to place myself in pro- 
per position, wishing all parties to shoulder their own luggage. I 
am decidedly in favor of African colonization, without minciDg the 
matter; not because I believe the projectors are saints, but because 
I believe it is the only practical scheme on foot; not because I be- 
lieve we have no right here, for I believe the earth is the common 
property of mankind; not because I think there is nowhere else we 
could comfortably live, (and the present generation much better,) 
but it is because I believe it is a duty. The line of duty is alike to 
all mankind; and we have no right to shrink from ours. Africa 
must be civilized, and it is our duty to do it. Africa must be re- 
spected, and it is our duty to make her so. The liou and the lamb 
must lie down together, and we must make their bed. All mankind 
must be free, and we must strike at the cause of slavery: remove 
the cause, and the wound will heal itself. It is madness to perish 
two hundred native free born per annum, for the sake of running 
oft' from their claimants one hundred per year. The wear and tear 
of mind is killing us oft' by inches, while we are struggling for a 
chimera, — a something that no set of men will ever possess, by beg- 
ging. But, sir, Africa is destined to be the mistress of the world, 
and we are to make the beginning; aud let posterity finish the job. 
" These being my calm views, I shall labor to that end, let oppo- 
sition come from what source it may. My grandfather struggled for 
six years in South Carolina, during the Revolution, and it was a des- 
perate stake. Their party won, but his son and son's sons have 
been cheated ; so I must look elsewhere for the prize. I cau't sub- 
scribe to the Divine right of kings to rule, or any other particular set. 
Slavery is slavery, clothe it as you will. Man's the master of the 
animal kingdom, and I want my share of the responsibility. Cha- 
ritv compels me to believe all men honest in their opinions, without 
reference to antagonism, — and believing a diversity of opinions is na- 
tural and necessary, 1 have no disposition to find fault with others, 
while I desire a free exercise of my own. 
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" Elias G. Jones, Hair Dresser, 
" No. 314 Greenwich street." 



350 REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 

patriotism. This i.s its loading motive; this its one object. 
We thus help the colored man in his desires tor self-eleva- 
tion, and in his beneficent influence on benighted Africa. 
The cause is one that may justly challenge universal favor, 
and promises great and most beneficent results.* 

Here is enough for all to do; enough to satisfy the 
largest benevolence, the most ardent philanthropy — in acts, 
in personal sacrifices, in contributions to the cause of hu- 
manity; and all without the violence of personal or legal 
rights — " doing good, and not evil — that good may come." 

* " The idea that out of the institution of domestic slavery in tin's 
country i.s to spring the regeneration of Africa, derives, it seems to 
me, great force from the recurrence to past history. 

" We invariably find that in the dispensation of Providence, na- 
tions which have been called to act an important part in the work 
of human progress, have been led through a long previous discipline 
of trial ; the restraints and endurance of youth have preceded the 
power and efficiency of manhood. Primary subjection is the law of 
Stable growth, and seems an indispensable condition of the advance- 
ment of our race. 

"We have only to look back through a few centuries to find the 
evidences of this in the annals of our race. Our ancestors were for 
centuries a down-trodden, enslaved and toiling people. The Anglo- 
Saxon race have become what they are, by a long training in the 
school of patient enduranoe ; in the case of England, under oppres- 
sive sen it ml t- tn the Soman and the Norman ; in the ease of America, 

under the oppression of our mother-country and the trying discipline 
of Colonial Buffering. In the life of a nation, hundreds of yean may 

be as a day in the life of an individual. It is often necessary for 
many gen< rations to pass, before a new influence can be made to 
affect Ibe mass. If all are willing, the work of national preparation 
might be more rapid ; but thousands are to be made willing — and by 
the Providential adaptation of the means to the end. 

•■ Let us not be impatient or presumptuous. These African peo- 
ple are passing to their destiny along the same path which has been 
trod bj other nations, through a mixture of hardship, (it endurance, 
hui in a land oi light, and amid a civilized society. They are pre- 
paring to accomplish a work for their native continent which no 
oilier people in the world can accomplish. Their plain mission is, 
ultimately to carry the gilts of society, of religion, of government, 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 357 

Planted in feebleness, Liberia rises in glory. A great 
work has been achieved, for which let the praise be given 
to God who has crowned the labors of the friends of huma- 
nity with such wonderful success. Much remains to be 
done to carry forward the good work, perfecting that which 
is so auspiciously begun. May Africa never lack for friends ; 
may the friends of Africa have wisdom and zeal proportion- 
ate to the magnitude and glory of the work to be accom- 
plished, and may the blessing of God, without which nothing 
should be sought, be with them. 

to the last remaining continent of the earth — where these blessings 
are totally unknown. Their work is a gneat one, as it would seem 
to be connected essentially with the final and universal triumph of 
civilization and Christianity, in the world. It is our duty to follow, 
not to attempt to lead in the ways and purposes of Providence. We 
are to move forward when the pillar of fire and cloud moves for- 
ward ; and to rest when it rests. — Com. Stockton, 



(DDTJ^lIfSTOI?, 



Is the progress of the foregoing Conversations, particular 
reference has been made to several of the early and distin- 
guished friends of African Colonization : the author is sen- 
sible that in an attempt to do justice to some, he may by 
omission seem to do injustice to others, lie cannot, how- 
ever, refrain from a passing tribute, before these sheets pass 
from the press, as an acknowledgment of the valuable ser- 
vices of a few among the noble friends of Africa, whose 
work is done on earth, but who have left a memorial behind 
them, and "shall be in everlasting remembrance." And 
first may be mentioned, with propriety, more particularly 
than before, 

Tlie Rev. Robert Firlkt. To him, at that time resi- 
dent at Basking Ridge, New Jersey, is conceded by all, a 
great share in the honor of originating the American Colo- 
nization Society. For years this eminent Christian had 

viewed the condition of the free colored population of our 

country with sympathising interest, and -the whole vigor of 
his intellect was aroused to form plans tor their relief." 
Among '-the exiled children of Africa this good man saw 
not merely the heirs to a temporal, bul to an eternal exist- 
ence ; not those possessing merely the virtues of natural and 

social affection, but also capacities lor the high improve- 
ments and jo\ s ot* an immortal state.'* Early in the year 
1815 he expressed himself to a fiend as follows: ••The 
longer 1 iive to see the wretchedness ot' nun. the more 1 
admire the virtue of those who devise, and with patience 
labor to execute plans for the relief of the \\ retched. On this 
subject, the state ofthe free blacks, hasverj much occupied 
my mind. Their number increases greatly, and their wretch- 



FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE. 85$ 

edness, as appears to me. Every thing connected with their 
condition, including their color, is against them ; nor is there 
much prospect that their state can ever be greatly meliorat- 
ed while they shall continue among us. Could not the rich 
and benevolent devise means to form a colony on some 
part of the coast of Africa, similar to the one at Sierre Leone, 
Avhich might gradually induce many free blacks to go and 
settle, devising for them the means of getting there, and of 
protection and support till they are established? Think 
much upon this subject, and then please to write me when 
you have leisure." 

Mr. Finley was satisfied of the practicability and utility 
of the project, and encouraged by the opinions of others, 
" resolved to make a great effort to carry his benevolent 
views into effect. In making preparatory arrangements, he 
spent a considerable part of the fall of 1S16," and, "deter- 
mined to test the popularity, and in some measure the prac- 
ticability of the whole system," he at length introduced the 
subject to public notice in the city of Washington. For 
this purpose he visited several members of Congress, the 
President, the heads of Department, and others. His con- 
versation and zeal is said to have done much in arresting 
attention to the subject, and conciliating many who at first 
appeared opposed. He proposed a special season of prayer 
in reference to the object, and several pious persons met 
him for the purpose of spending an hour in such an exer- 
cise. "When told that some were incredulous, and that 
some ridiculed the plan proposed, he replied, u I know this 
scheme is from God." 

Having disinterestedly and perseveringly prosecuted 
the great object of his desire, and performed a conspicuous 
part in the organization of the Society, he was soon called 
from his Christian labors on earth to his reward in heaven. 
His work was done ; and upon the foundation which he 
laid, others were called by the providence of God to build. 
James Madison, the profound statesman, the accom- 



3(50 FRIENDS OK Tilt: CAUSE. 

plished scholar, the humble Christian, who filled with so 
much honor the highest position in the gift of his country, 
was the early friend of the Society, its President at the 
time of his death, and besides approving its plans and lend- 
ing to it the influence of his name, contributed largely to 
its funds, aiid remembered it also in his last will and testa* 
ment, leaving to assist in its operations when he should be 
no more, a valuable legacy. 

A Jefferson, Monroe and Carroll, may also be men- 
tioned as among the zealous advocates of colonization, the 
last of whom was elected President of the Society upon the 
demise of Jud<?e Washington. 

The Hon. Bushrod "Washington*, the talents and vir- 
tues of whom are well known to have been of high charac- 
ter; and who having practised with reputation and success 
in the profession of which he was so bright an ornament, 
was appointed by the first President Adams, in 1707. as 
Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States — the high- 
est judicial tribunal of our country, was the Society's early 
friend. Of this Society, he became the President at its ori- 
gin, and ever felt much interest in its success. He gave 
much of his time and thoughts to the advancement of its 
designs, and was liberal in his donations. His views of the. 
Society and its operations are exhibited in an impressive 
manner, in an address which he delivered at the first annual 
meeting of the Society. The following is an extract: --In 
the magnificenl plans now carrying on for the improve- 
ment and happiness of mankind, in many parts of the world, 
\se cannot bul discern the interposition of that Almighty 

power who alone could inspire and crown with success 

these great purposes. But amongst them all, there is per- 
haps Done upon which we may more confidently implore 
the. blessing of heaven, than that in which we are now asso- 
ciated. Whether we consider the grandeur of the object 
and the wide sphere of philanthropy which it embraces; or 
whether we view the present state of its progress under the 



FRIENDS OF THE CAC8K. 361 

auspices of this Society, and under the obstacles which might 
have been expected from the cupidity of many, Ave may dis- 
cover in each a certain pledge that the same benignant hand 
•which has made these preparatory arrangements, will crown 
our efforts with success. Having, therefore, these motives 
of piety to consecrate and strengthen the powerful conside- 
rations which a wise policy suggests, we may, I trust, con- 
fidently rely upon the liberal exertions of the public for the 
necessary means of effecting this highly interesting object." 
Nor was he at all discouraged by the obstacles which it was 
necessary to encounter in the further prosecution of this 
good entei'prise, or by the prospect of the greatness of the 
work which he saw was to be done. In a subsequent ad- 
dress, he says, " If much yet remains to be done, we may 
nevertheless look back with satisfaction upon the work which 
has been accomplished ; and may, I trust, without presump- 
tion, indulge the hope that the time is not for distant, when, 
by means of those for whose happiness we are laboring, 
Africa will participate in the inestimable blessings which 
result from civilization, a knowledge of the arts, and, above 
all, of the pure doctrines of the Christian religion." 

Chief Justice Marshall also was a distinguished friend 
of colonization. The Colonization Herald has said, on 
noticing his death, " It is not of the statesman or the judge 
that we would speak. Our humble, tribute is paid to the 
early and steadfast friend of African Colonization, the old- 
est Vice-president of the American Colonization Society. 
Surrounded from his birth by a slave population, he knew 
its evils, and as a patriot, a philanthropist, and a Christian, 
was desirous of doing all in his power to promote the wel- 
fare of his country, and render justice to the oppressed. 
His clear mind saw the difficulties of the subject, and the 
necessity of removing by degrees an evil which had grown 
too mighty to be forcibly overthrown without spreading 
devastation through the land. He saw that the sudden 
emancipation of the slaves of the Southern States was 

16 



SG2 FRIEXD9 OF THE CAUSE. 

morally impracticable, not only by reason of the municipal 
law which forbade it, but the still stronger law of nature, 
which declared it cruel and unjust to cast them forth un- 
protected and unprepared for their new condition. In the 
plan of colonization he saw the, means of opening a door by 
which the oppressed may go free, with the prospect of at- 
taining comfort and happiness, and vindicating their equal 
participation in the dignity of manhood. He was therefore 
among the earliest promoters of the American Colonization 
Society, and to his latest breath continued its steadfast 
friend. He generally attended the annual meetings of the 
society ; and as the oldest Vice-President, frequently pre- 
sided, lie always manifested a lively interest in its wel- 
fare. One of the latest acts of his life was to contribute 
largely toward fitting out an expedition with colonists from 
blk; and even in his last illness he showed unabated 
zeal in the cau , 

In this connexion it is highly proper to mention also the 
Rt Rev. William White, D. D. 

" nomen clarnm et vencrabile !" 



Who, formany years, as one of the Vice-Presidents of the 
I i/atiou Society, and in various ways, contributed 

much to the advancement of the cause and the best interest 
of an oppressed race. It was not many months before his 
death, thai the lamented bishop, having braved, at th< 
of four score and eight, the inclemency of a stormy, snowy 
night, was Been presiding at the anniversary of the Penn- 
sylvania branch of the Colonization Society. 

RoBxaT Ralbtow, of Philadelphia, was another Vice- 
Presidenl of the Parent Society, and distinguished friend of 
Africa, whose nam.' was greatly respected, and who dosed 
his earthly pilgrimage, honored and lamented, in the ripe- 
ness of a good old age. 

Another early friend of colonization was Elias Boi'ui- 



REVIEW OF THS WHOLE. 363 

not Caldwell, Esq. first Secretary of the Society, present 
at its organization, and justly classed with Finley, Mills, 
and Gen. Mercer, as one of the most efficient projectors 
and promoters of the institution. His Christian principles 
and works are his best eulogium. The African Repository 
contains this notice of his death and tribute to his memory ; 
" Having taken a very distinguished part in the formation 
of the Society, having carefully investigated its claims, and 
prepared himself for the obstacles which he saw to be in- 
evitable in its progress, and especially having committed 
the cause to God, he was not disconcerted by misfortunes, 
nor discouraged by the calamities of its earliest history. 
He recollected that the events connected with the infancy 
of almost all colonies are analogous to those which have 
occurred in our own, and that they prove rather that experi- 
ence is requisite to success, than that success is impossible. 
To no individual, in the country was the colony more in- 
debted for aid and success during the months of its great- 
est peril and distress ; and while his strength enabled him 
to act, none was more earnest in exertions for its prospe- 
rity. Often indeed did his zeal for others render him for- 
getful of himself, and his feeble frame fetl the debilitating 
effects of excessive mental exertion. Near the conclusion 
of his life, the ordinary affairs of the world appeared to 
lose their power to affect him, and his faith fixed itself upon 
the things which are unseen and eternal. Perfection with 
God was the object of his supreme desire and highest hope. 
His anticipations of immortality, however, could not dimi- 
nish his affection for the cause of humanity and of God on 
earth. A few days before his death he addressed to a 
friend this note, ' The Lord hath givex me the desire 

OF J.IY HEART RESPECTIXG AFRICA. FAREWELL.' Blessed 

is his memory, and great his reward." 

To perpetuate in Africa the name of this benefactor of 
Liberia, the name of Caldwell was given to the first settle- 
ment established bv the colon v. 



304 REVIEW OK THE WHOLE. 

William Henry FiTzhugh was a warm and early 
friend of the Liberia colony, and for successive years one of 
the Vice-Presidents of the American Colonization Society, 
the value and importance of which institution he ably set 
forth in a series of essays under the signature of Opimus. 
Descended from two of the ancient and respectable families 
of Virginia, and by education, talents, fortune, character, 
peculiarly fitted for eminent usefulness, his death was 
lamented as a public loss. At the time of his death Mr. 
Fitzhngh was employed in plans for bettering the moral 
condition of his slaves, with the hope of preparing them for 
a different sphere of action. His designs towards them are 
sufficiently indicated by his will, enjoining their freedom 
under proper conditions. One who was intimately acquaint- 
ed with him said "Mr. Fitzhugh was no ordinary man. — 
His highly gifted and well-balanced mind, improved and 
polished by education, self-discipline, ajid constant inter- 
course with cultivated and refined society, controlled in its 
operations by Bentiments just, honorable, magnanimous, 
rendered him a model of the virtues most admired in pri- 
vate and in public life. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, who 
have shared in the hospitalities of Ravensworth will bear 
testimony to the nobleness of his disposition, the urbanity 
of his manners, and to those attractive powers of conversa- 
tion which drew around him, as by magic, a numerous 
circle of friends, who found that to know was to love him ; 
and that every successive interview increased the strength 
of their attachment. As a member of the Virginia House 
of Delegates, of the Senate, and of the Convention, he tilled 
the high expectation of his friends, and stood acknowledged 
by all, an able, honorable, and eloquent statesman. While 
the reputation of Virginia was dear to his heart, while he 
cherished towards ber character and her interest, even a 
filial affection, he looked abroad upon the Union with patri- 
otic pride, and rejoiced in the honors and prospects of this 
glorious national republic. Nor were his desires for the 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 365 

improvement of mankind confined within the limits of his 
country. He was a philanthropist; and felt that human 
beings, whatever may be their country, circumstances, or 
complexion, were related to him by the ties of a common 
nature, and must not be excluded from his regards. His 
example survives him. And while friendship and affection 
shed their tears upon his grave ; while honor, genius, 
patriotism, and philanthropy gather around it in silent 
grief, may his example, like an oracle from the abodes of 
the departed, give confidence and energy to virtue, and 
perpetuate its influence to relieve the miseries, and to im- 
prove and exalt the character of mankind." 

We must notice another who greatly served the inte- 
rests of colonization, Thomas Smith Grimke. By the death 
of this distinguished Christian, scholar and civilian, in 1834, 
the Colonization Society was deprived of one of its Vice- 
Presidents and most efficient members, and the cause of 
Africa of a liberal and devoted friend. It has been well said 
of Mr. Grimke that he was no ordinary man, either in his 
intellectual or moral endowments. In the legal profession 
pre-eminent, a statesman of enlarged views and purity of 
motive, his patriotism a part of his piety, always aiming 
at the approbation of heaven, he was qualified for distin- 
guished usefulness. His memory is blessed — his exam- 
ple lives. 

Nor should we pass by unnoticed, the names of others, 
besides the sainted Ashmun and Mills, who left their native 
land, aspiring to serve this good cause more effectually in 
Africa. We may mention, first, the Rev. Lott Carey. 
Among the names of those who have devoted themselves 
to the great work of founding a colony in Liberia, and who 
shared the cares and toils and privations consequent upon 
the first attempt, stands conspicuous that of Mr. Carey, for 
some time the Vice-agent of the colony. Mr. Carey, as 
appears by an obituary of him in the Repository, from 
which this tribute is chiefly quoted, was born a slave, near 



306 REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 

Richmond, Virginia. He was early hired out as a common 
laboror in that city, where, for some years, he remained, 
entirely r< of religion, and much addicted to pro- 

fane and vicious habits. Convinced of the misery of a sinful 
state, and brought to true repentance, he professed faith in 
tlie Saviour, and became a member of the Baptist Church. 
His father way a pious man, and much respected member 
of thi- same church, and his mother died giving evidence 
that she bad relied for salvation upon the Son of God. Jle 
was their only child, and though he had no early instruction 
from books, the admonitions and prayers of his illiterate 
parents, it is supposed, laid the foundation of his further 
usefulness. "A strong desire to be able to read was excited 
in his mind by a sermon to which he attended soon after 
his conversion, and which related to our Lord's interview 
with Nicodemus; and having obtained a Testament, he 
commenced reading his letters, by trying to read the chap- 
ter hi which this interview is recorded. Such was his dili- 
and perseverance that lie overcame all obstacles, and 
acquired not only the ait of reading, but of writing also. 
Shortly after the death of his first wife in 1813, he ransom* 
ed himself and two children for $850, a sum which he had 
obtained by his singular ability and fidelity in managing the 
Concerns of a tobacco warehouse. Of the real value of his 

services there, it has been remarked, no one but the dealt r 
in tobacco can form an idea. Notwithstanding the hundreds 
of hog heads that were committed to his charge, he could 
produce any one the instant it was called for; and the ship- 
ment-, were mad.' with promptness and correctness, such as 
no person, whit'' or blaok, has equalled in the same situation. 

It i^ -aid that while employed at the warehouse, he often 
devoted bis 1-i to reading, and that a gentleman 

on one occasion taking up a book which he had left for a 
few moments, found it to be •Smith's Wealth <>t' Nations.' 
As early as the year 1815 he began to feel a special inte- 
rest in the cause of African Missions, ami contributed pro- 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 367 

bably more than any other person in giving origin and cha- 
racter to the African Missionary Society established during 
that year in Richmond, and which, for many years collected 
and appropriated annually to the cause of Christianity in 
Africa, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars. 
His benevolence was practical ; and whenever and wherever 
good objects were to be effected, he was ready to lend his 
aid. He became a preacher several years before he left this 
country, and generally engaged in this service every Sunday 
among the colored people on plantations a few miles from 
Richmond. A correspondent, from whom we have already 
quoted, observes, 'In preaching, notwithstanding his gram- 
matical inaccuracies, he was often truly eloquent. He had 
derived almost nothing from the schools, and his manner 
was, of course unpolished, but his ideas would sometimes 
burst upon you in their native solemnity, and awaken deep- 
er feelings than the most polished but less original and in- 
artificial discourse.' A distinguished minister of the Pres- 
byterian church said to the writer, ' A sermon which 1 heard 
from Mr. Carey, shortly before he sailed for Africa, was 
the best extemporaneous sermon I ever heard. It contained 
more original and impressive thoughts, some of which are 
distinct in my memory, and never can be forgotten.' 

" Mr. Carey was among the earliest emigrants to Africa. 
For some time before his departure he had sustained the 
office of pastor of a Baptist church of colored persons in 
Richmond, embracing nearly eight hundred members, re- 
ceived from it a liberal support, and enjoyed its confidence 
and affection. "When an intelligent minister of the same 
church inquired why he could determine to quit a station of 
so much comfort and usefulness, to encounter the dangers 
of an African climate, and hazard every thing to plant a 
colony on a distant heathen shore? his reply was to this 
effect, ' I am an African, and in this country, however meri- 
torious my conduct and respectable my character, I cannot 
receive the credit due to either. I wish to go to a country 



S68 



REVIliW OF THE WHOLE. 



where I shall be estimated by my merits, not by my com- 
plexion; and 1 feel bound to labor for my suffering race.' 
He seemed to have imbibed the sentiment of Paul, and to 
have great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart l'or 
his brethren, liis kinsmen according to the flesh. At the 
close of his farewell sermon in Richmond, he remarked in 
Bubstance as follows: — 'lam about to leave you, and expect 
to see your faces no more. I long to preach to the poor 
Africans the way of'lii'e and salvation. 1 don't know what 
may befall me, whether 1 may lind a grave in the ocean or 
among the savage men, or more savage wild beasts on the 
coast of Africa; nor am 1 anxious what may become of me. 
I feel it my duty to go; and 1 very much fear that many of 
those who preach the gospel in this country will blush 
when the Saviour calls them to give an account of their 
labors in his cause, and tells them, '1 commanded you to go 
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;' 
(and with the most forcible emphasis he exclaimed) the 
Saviour may ask, Where have you been.' what have you 
been doing ' Have you endeavored to the utmost of your 
ability to fulfil the commands 1 gave you, or have you 
sought your own gratification and your own ease regardless 

of my commands?' 

•• < >n his arrival in Africa he saw before him a wide and 
Interesting field, demanding various and energetic talents, 
and the most devoted piety. His intellectual ability, flrm- 
nese of purpose, unbending integrity, correct judgment, and 
disinterested benevolence, booh placed him in a conspicuous 
station, and gave him vide and commanding influence. 

Though naturally diffident and retiring, his worth was too 
evident to allow of his continuing in obscurity. It is well 
known that great difficulties were encountered in founding 
a settlement at Gape Montserado. So appalling were the 
circumstances of the firsl settlers, that soon after they had 
taken possession of the cape it was proposed that they should 
remove to Sierra L one. The resolution of Mr. Carey was 



REVIEW OF THE "WHOLE. 369 

not to be shaken; he determined to stay, and his decision 
had great effect in pursuading others to imitate his example. 
During the war with the native tribes, in November and 
December, 182*2, he proved to be one of the bravest of men, 
and lent his well directed and vigorous support to the mea- 
sures of Mr. Ashmun during that memorable defence of the 
colony. It was to him that Mr. Ashmun was principally 
indebted for assistance in rallying the broken forces of the 
colony at a moment when fifteen hundred of the exasperat- 
ed natives were rushing on to exterminate the settlement. 
In one of his letters he compares the little exposed company 
on Cape Montserado at that time, to the Jews, who, in re- 
building their city, 'grasped a weapon in one hand, while 
they labored with the other,' but adds emphatically, ' there 
never has been an hour or a minute, no, not even when the 
balls were flying around my head, when I could wish my- 
self again in America.' At this early period of the colony 
the emigrants were peculiarly exposed ; the want of ade- 
quate medical attentions, and the scantiness of their sup- 
plies, subjected them to severe and complicated sufferings. 
To relieve, if possible, these sufferings, Mr. Carey availed 
himself of all information in his power, concerning the dis- 
eases of the climate, made liberal sacrifices of his property 
to assist the poor and distressed, and devoted his time al- 
most exclusively to the destitute, the sick, and the afflicted. 
He appeared to realize the greatness of the work in which 
he had engaged, and to be animated by a noble spirit of 
zeal and resolution in the cause of his afflicted and perish- 
ing brethren. His services as physician were invaluable, 
and were for a long time rendered without hope of reward. 
" He was elected in September, 182G, to the Vice-agency 
of the colony, and discharged the duties of that important 
office until his death. In his good sense, moral worth, 
public spirit, courage, resolution, and decision, the colonial 
agent had perfect confidence. He knew that in times of 
difficulty or danger, reliance might be placed upon the 

15* 



370 REVIEW OF THE W1I0LZ. 

energy and efficiency of Mr. Carey. When compelled in 
the early part of lb28 to leave the colony. Mr. Ashmun 
committed the administration of the colonial afiairs into his 
hands. But amid his multiplied cares and efforts for the 
colony he never forgot or neglected to promote the objects 
of the African Missionary Society, for which he had long 
cherished the Strongest attachment. His great object in 
emigrating to Africa was to extend the power and blessings 
of the Chrisitian religion. Before his departure from Rich- 
mond, a little church of about half a dozen member^ was 
formed by himself and those who were to accompany him. 
lie became the pastor of this church in Africa, and saw its* 
numbers greatly increased. Most earnestly did he seek ac- 
cess to the native tribes, and endeavor to instruct them in 
the doctrines and duties of that religion which in his own 
case had proved so powerful to purity, exalt and save. In 
one or two instances of hopeful conversion from heathenism, 
he greatly rejoiced; and many of his latest and most 
anxious thoughts were directed to the establishment of native 
schools in the interior. One such school, distant seventy 
miles from Monrovia, and of great promise, was established 
through his agency about a year before his death, and patro- 
nized and superintended by him until that mournful event 
On this Bubject, by his many valuable communications to 
the Missionary Board, 'he being dead yet speaketh'ia 

language which must affect the heart of every true Chris- 
tian disciple. 

•■ For six months after the first departure of Mr. Ash- 
inun from the colony, Mr. Carey stood at its head, and con- 

ducted himself with such energy and wisdom as to do 

honor to his previous reputation, and fix the seal upon his 

enviable fame. < >n his death-bed, Mi'. Ajshmxtii urged that 
Mr. ( tore] should be permanently appointed to conduct the 

afiairs of the colony, expressing his perfect « fidence in 

his integrity and ability for that great work. The tidings 

• ! Mr A-hmun's death had not reached the colony until 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. « 371 

after the decease of Mr. Carey. How unexpected, how in- 
teresting, how affecting the meeting of these two individuals 
(so long united in Christian fellowship, in benevolent and 
arduous labors) in the world of glory and immortality ! 

" It has been well said of Mr. Carey, that ' he was one of 
nature's noblemen;' and had he possessed the advantages 
of education, few men of his age would have excelled him 
in knowledge or genius. The features and complexion of 
Mr. Carey were altogether African. He was diffident, and 
showed no disposition to push himself into notice. His 
words were few, simple, direct and appropriate. His con- 
versation indicated rapidity and clearness of thought, and 
an ability to comprehend the great and variously-related 
principles of religion and government. To found a Chris- 
tian colony which might prove a blessed asylum to his de- 
graded brethren in America and enlighten and regenerate 
Africa, was, in his view, an object with which no temporal 
good, not even life, could be compared. The strongest 
sympathies of his nature were excited in behalf of his un- 
fortunate people, and the divine promise cheered and en- 
couraged him in his labors for their improvement and salva- 
tion. \ main pillar in Liberia, the memorial of his worth 
shall never perish. It shall stand in clearer light when 
every chain is broken, and Christianity shall have assumed 
her sway over the millions of Africa." 

The following lines " to the memory " of Mr. Carey, 
appeared in the African Repository soon after his death : — 

" Shall none record the honor' d name 

Of Afric's favpr'd son, 
Or twine the deathless wreath of fame 

For him whose race is run 1 
While angels crown the saint above, 
Has earth no voice to own her love? 

Where'er the Patriot rests his head 
A stately pile appears; 



872 MVJSW or THK WHOLE. 

While warriors sleep on glory's bed. 

Beneath n nation's tears ; 
And shall no tribute rise to thee, 
Thou fearless friend of liberty ? 

Yes. Afric'a sunny skies have gleam'd 

On many B scene sublime ; 
But more than hope has ever dream 'd 

Is destin'd for that clime. 
The chain shall burst, the slave be freo, 
And millions bless thy memory. 

Thy meed shall be a nation's love ! 

Thy praise, ihe freeman's song ! 
And in thy star-wreath'd home above- 

Thou may'st the theme prolong; 
For hymns of praise from Afric's plains 
Shall mingle with seraphic strains." 

Dr. Richard Randall, who generously proffered his 
services in the cause of colonization and of Africa, and to 
whom was entrusted the station made vacant by the decease 
ofthe lamented Ashmun, was born at Annapolis, Md. ; re- 
ceived his education at St. John's College, and took his de- 
gree as a Doctor of Medicine in Philadelphia. From a 
sphere of usefulness in his profession in Washington City, 
he was called t<> the Professorship ofQiemistry in Columbia 
College. He was also an abb- and efficient member of the 
Board of Managers of the Colonization Society. But his 
expansive benevolence, and the warm interest which he took 

in the welfare of the Liberia colony, would not allow of 

bis enjoying longer the Battering prospects which were be- 
fore him in America. An mtimate friend of Dr. Randall 

has said, •• The magnitude of the object of the Colonization 
Society, the attained BUCCeSS, the illimitable prospects for 

usefulness which tin- scheme displayed, soon engaged the 
feelings of his generous and benevolent mind, lie was a 

generous, kind, noblcdicartcd man."' lie once thought un- 
favorably of the Society, the colony, and its objects; but 
•■ his mind *ras enlightened," and he resolved to devote his 



REVIEW OF THIS WHOLE. 373 

best energies to the glorious cause. As a member of the 
Board of Managers, he was discriminating, judicious, reso- 
lute, and benevolent ; and became so intimately acquainted 
with all that related to the object of the cause, that great 
respect was due to his decisions. When Ashmun died, Dr. 
Randall was deeply affected, fully sensible of the shock 
which the institution had sustained. "The workings of his 
generous mind " could not long be concealed. He hesitated ; 
but " his hesitation was the result of a diffidence of his own 
powers. Admonished of his danger, and implored by his 
friends to remain in the flattering career which he had com- 
menced," his reply was decided, that " in doing his duty he 
disregarded Ins life — that with his feelings and purpose, he 
could readily exchange the endearing intercourse of rela- 
tions, the alluring pleasures of refined society, the promised 
success of professional exertion, for the humble duty of pro- 
moting the happiness of the poor negroes in Africa, and be 

HAPPY IN SO DOING." 

Dr. John Wallace Anderson, of Maryland, graduate 
of the University of Pennsylvania in 1823, after being set- 
tled as a practising physician, resolved that it was his duty 
to devote himself to the cause of African colonization, by 
serving, in his professional character, among the colonists 
of Liberia. He accordingly left behind him the attractions 
of a delightful home, and with that sentiment deep in his 
heart, which, when leaving this world, he directed should 
be inscribed on his tombstone. "Jesus for thee I live, for 
thee I die," he committed himself to the direction of a wise 
and good Providence, and planted himself on the shores of 
Liberia. Useful in his profession, and distinguished by un- 
remitting efforts to promote the best £ od of the infant 
colony, he was called to the agency of the colony. His 
efforts laid him upon the bed of sickness ; there, although 
he could no more serve the colony as lie had been wont 
to do, his remaining breath was spent in fervent prayer for 
its success, until, in a few days from his attack, with entire 



374 REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 

resignation to the Divine will, and with unshaken and tri- 
umphant confidence in the glorious Saviour, he was called to 

pass the valley and shadow of death. One who was with 
him when he died, has remarked, M Well might 1 have said, 
when Dr. Andersen breathed his last, Come and see how a 
Christian can die." lie- is said to have evidenced ** a re- 
markable devotion to the cause of God and man," and to 
have been possessed of " a spirit so mild, retiring, disinte- 

I and unwavering, as at once to win the affections and 
deeply impress the heart" of all who became acquainted 
with him. 

Eev. Melville B. Cox is another whose name will go 
down to many generations as one of Africa's early and faith- 
ful friends, .Mr. Cox went out to Liberia under the direc- 
tion of the Methodist Missionary Society, u to promote tho 
cause of Christianity in Liberia, and among the African 
tribes in its vicinity." lie is represented as a minister of 
great sincerity and zeal in the cause of Christ, and of dis- 
tinguished abilities. In reference to his mission, he said be- 
fore his departur •, " 1 will have nothing to do with worldly 
gain in any form, [f Cod permits me to go, it shall be to 

;i the gospel." Devoted to this work of piety and 
mercy himself, be was greatly anxious to enlist the feelings 
of others. u 1 would," said he, M that our colored friends 
fell on this subjeet as they should. When was there ever 
such a door opened .' We cannot but feel. Africa calls us 
with millions of voices. She pleads in the strung wailings 
of suffering humanity. She Bpeaks in tin- accents of dying 
spirits 'perishing for lack of knowledge.' Will not her 
suns in America hear.' O that God would move their 
hearts to this work. Money and means are at their com- 
mand — public sympathy is deeply enlisted in their favor, 
Mill they still refuse.' God pity them. And may he pity 
ilio.,' who have sown the seed of such deep-rooted pre- 
judices againsl Liberia; and may he pity us who have bo 
long enslaved intellect as to have rendered it almost entire- 



REVIEW OP THE WHOLE. 375 

ly insensible to moral and religions enterprise." Some 
friend of humanity 'who knew how to appreciate the worth 
of this excellent missionary, has embalmed his memory in 
these lines, entitled " the Grave of Cox." 

" From Niger's dubious billow, 

From Gambia's silver wave, 
Where rests, on death's cold pillow, 

The tenant of the grave, 
We hear a voice of weeping, 

Like low-toned lutes at night, 
In plaintive echoes sweeping 

Up Mesurado's height. 

The palin-tree o'er him waving, 

The grass above his head, 
The stream his clay-couch laving, 

All — all proclaim him dead ; 
Dead ! but alive in glory, 

A conqueror at rest ; 
Embalmed in sacred story, 

And crowned amidst the blest. 

A martyr's grave encloses 

His wearied frame at last, 
Perfum'd with heaven's sweet roses, 

On his dear bosom cast; 
And Afric's sons deploring 

Their champion laid low, 
Like many waters roaring, 

Unbosom alt their wo. 

The moon's lone chain of mountains, 

The plain where Carthage stood, 
Jugurtlm's ancient fountains, 

And Teembo's palmy wood, 
Are •wild with notes of sorrow, 

Above their sainted friend, 
To whom their comes no morrow, 

But glory without end." 

Thomas Buchanan, who died in the discharge of his 
duties as Governor of Liberia, deserves a high place among 



376 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 



the last friends of the cause: but as his memoirs, it is hoped, 
will soon be published by an abler hand, we here close our 
notice of the honored dead. 

It has been suggested that "in forming an opinion upon 
a subject of such vast importance to the best interests of our 
country and the very existence of the Union, as the negro 
question, it is well to look at the array of the great and the 
good, who have not only given the weight of their names, 
but have hallowed with their latest blessing the great cause 
they never ceased to love. The conscript fathers of the re- 
volution, who laid the foundation of their country's great- 
ness, who endured all the perils of the times that tried men's 
souls, and who showed that they knew how to appreciate 
the value of our happy union by mutual concession and a 
spirit of conciliation, without which the blessings sought 
could not be secured to their posterity — these, almost to a 
man, were ardent colonizationists." 

It is also worthy of remark that those who have gone 
forth as pioneers in the noble cause of colonization, have 
embraced in their Dumber some of the choicest spirits of the 
age. The leaders in this enterprise of humanity, patriotism, 
and benevolence, have not been men of an inferior order of 
intellect, nor mere visionaries; I nit of first rate minds, of 
enlarged views, sound judgment, great discretion, humble 
and unwavering piety, persevering zeal, entire devotion to 
the cause i >f I '"'I and the best interests of man. If a different 
opinion has prevailed, as it may, in some instances, it must 
be through want of proper information, and proper pains to 
obtain it. It is a remarkable tint, that they who have been 
most efficient in this good work have so generally been 
those possessed of pre-eminent qualifications — men who 
would have Bhone bright and been greatly honored remain* 
big in their own native land, but whose piety and benevo- 
manifest to all. led them to forego the flattering pros. 
pects before them here, that they might serve God and 
their generation on the Bhorea of Africa. 



REVIEW OF TII£ WHOLE. 877 

Nor should this remark be wholly confined to those who 
as agents, sub-agents, physicians, or ministers of the gospel 
and missionaries of the cross, have gone forth in this good 
work. Among the colonists generally, has been an honor- 
able share of all that is ennobling to humanity. As speci- 
mens of the views and feelings and qualifications of many, 
we may find much that is honorable in their own deeds. 
Take, as a specimen of the noble spirit and good judgment 
of not a few, the following extract of a letter from a free 
man of color, then belonging in Georgia, who sought an 
asylum in Africa in 1831. It need not be said, after reading 
the extract, that he was highly esteemed for his intelligence 
and piety where he then lived. He writes to the Secretary 
of the Colonization Society : 

" I have always viewed the principle on which the Socie- 
ty was grounded, as one of much policy, though I saw it was 
aided by a great deal of benevolence. And when viewing 
my situation, with thousands of my colored brethren in the 
United States, who are in a similar situation, I have often 
wondered what prevented us from rising, and with one voice 
saying, we will accept the offer made us at a risk of sacri- 
ficing all the comforts that our present situation can aflbrd 
us. I have often almost come to the conclusion that I would 
make the sacrifice, and have only been prevented by the un- 
favorable accounts of the climate. I have always, heretofore, 
viewed it as a matter of temporal interest, but now I view it 
spiritually. According to the accounts from Liberia, it wants 
help, and such as I trust I could give, though ever so little. 
I understand the branches of a wheelwright, and blacksmith, 
and carpenter; I also have good ideas of machinery and 
other branches. I trust also, were I to go there, I would add 
one to the number of advocates for religion. 1 will thank 
you to inform me what things I should take for the comfort 
of myself and family. 1 don't expect to go at the expense of 
the Society, and therefore hope to be allowed to take some- 
thing more than those who do not defray their own expenses." 



378 REVIEW OK HIE WHOLE. 

On looking over the pages that have preceded, the re- 
membrance of other eminent friends of colonization among 
our countrymen who have also been distinguished by their 
station, talents, acquirements, and virtue, admonishes us of 
many omissions: Among tin' departed might have been 
mentioned the names of Wirt, Crawford, Lowndes, Judge 
Workman, Mercer, Southard, Vroom, Cotton Smith, Judge 
"Wilkinson, Gov. Morrell, McDonogh, Drs. Cuyler, Tenney, 
Fisk, Milnor, Proudfit, Olin, Alexander, and others; and 
among its surviving friends (and long may they be spared 
to bless their country and the world) might have been nam- 
ed, of civilians, without destinction of party or locality, these 
bright lights of our land. Clay. Webster, Frelinghuysen, 
McLane, Everett, Butler, Whittlesey, Latrobe,and others; 
in the mercantile world, Gerard Ralston, Anson G. Phelps, 
Henry Sheldon, and others; and among the clergy, Breck- 
inridge, Gurley, s • Bacon, DeWitt, Spring, Tyng, 
Pinney, Bethune, and others; but the limits assigned to this 
appendix forbid our pursuing this subject as the thoughts 
would lead. 

We should also advert, by acknowledgment, to the fact 
that Colonization and Africa havk found gknbrocs friends 
among the FAIR SEX. Our fair country women, the author is 
happj to say. haw not withheld the pleasing influence and 
encouragement of their good example and charities from this 
great and holy cause. Always ready to feel for the wretched, 
nor ever backward in the efforts of fo nevolence when hu- 
manity calls, they have, in many instances, done themselves 
high honor by the aid which they have rendered to the* 
of Africa and of colonization. 1 )id not the respect that is due 
to the retiring modesty of the Bex forbid it. it would be 
grateful to bear testimony to their disinterested benevolence, 
an 1 record tin- Dames of nut a few, who, though their good 
works and alms' de< ds may DOl be heralded by the trump 
of earthly fame, have trulj a record on high. 

As an encouragement to others to " go, and do likewise," 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE.' 379 

and as a just recognition of that moral influence which the 
ladies of our land, like ministering angels of love and mercy, 
may exert — often undervalued by themselves, but acknow- 
ledged by humanity and religion to be of unspeakable worth 
— reference may be here made to a few instances of untir- 
ing friendship and devotion to the cause, as communicated 
in a note by a friend in answer to an inquiry touching the 
extent of female benevolence in support of the free schools 
in Liberia. 

"Colonization owes as much, perhaps, to female zeal 
and self-sacrificing devotion, as any benevolent enterprise 
of the age. In the infancy of the Society, when its friends 
were few and timid, and its enemies many and determined, 
the untiring efforts of Bishop M. were most nobly seconded 
by his excellent sisters, the Misses M., who contributed 
very largely from their own means, eliciting by their exam- 
ple and personal exertions the co-operation of their friends, 
and finally dedicated most of their property by will, to 
sustaining this holy cause. The sisters-in-law of that devot- 
ed friend of Africa have never ceased from the performance 
of deeds of kindness towards her oppressed children. This 
has been manifested by liberal and frequent donations, by 
unwearied care over the moral and religious culture of 
those entrusted to them by Providence and on the sail- 
ing of the first expedition for Bassa Cove, one of them, 
Mrs. P., not only liberated fourteen choice slaves to aid the 
enterprise, and gave them an ample outfit, but generously 
added 8500 to ensure them every thing necessary in their 
new home. 

" These noble examples were not lost on their friend and 
neighbor, Miss B., who, in addition to the liberation of eleven 
slaves, (contributing nearly all her little property,) mort- 
gaged the residue and raised §800, with which she purchased 
the freedom of the husbands of two of her women, who were 
held by persons in the vicinity. Nor was her strong affec- 
tion for this degraded people stopped here. By devoting 



880 REVIEW OK THE WHOLE. 

ihe proceeds of her needle, and the profits of her dairy to 
their welfare, she yearly increased the humble resources of 
the Society. < tae sister, who recently died, made the free- 
dom of a family now settled in Liberia a parting request 
to her surviving relatives. Mrs. W. of Mount Vernon, 
another sister, sent an interesting and valuable family of 
slaves to Liberia, and at the same time made a handsome 
donation to the funds of the Society, whose want of means 
alone prevented their fitting out another expedition to con- 
vey them, and a number of other slaves pressed upon the 
Society by their benevolent owners, to l!a>^a Cove. 

"Mrs. M., Mrs. 15.. and Mrs. C. of Arlington might be 
mentioned among many of the same circle, who for years 
heroically devoted themselves to the task of instructing and 
evangelizing their slaves, and those of their neighbors, and 
aiding in support of schools in Africa. Rarely have we lis- 
tened to a more deeplj interesting narrative than that of a 
clergyman recently on a visit in the South, who was present 
when the former of those ladies, then perfectly blind, on 

Learning that her youngest and darling son was alone deter- 
red from offering himself as a missionary for Africa by the 

fear that she could not bear the separation, called for her 
guide, and waited on the venerable senior Bishop of that 
diocese, t<> assure him that however severe was this test ^t' 
her faith, she could not but cheerfully resign him for the per- 
formance of a sen ice so b< »ly. 

-The name ofMiss M. .M. will descend to posterity as 
one of the illustrious of tin- age. Descending from one of 
the most ancient and distinguished families of the South, 
and brought up in the possession of all that wealth could 
bestow this noble woman did not hesitate, on the death of 
her father, to liberate her own share of his slaves, together 
with such other- as coui, i be purchased; and Bending the 

young, the active, and ihe vigorous, at her own cost, to 

Africa, she, one of the loveliest and most accomplished of 
her sex, converted the mansion of her ancestors into a. 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. 381 

boarding school, and for years devoted herself to the ardu- 
ous duties of superintending it, that she might discharge the 
debt thus incurred, and sustain the 'old and the worn out.' 
What a beautiful comment on the charge of our adversaries, 
that such only are the objects of the pretended benevolence 
of colonizationists ! It has been the privilege of the writer 
of this faint tribute to female worth, to visit Cedar Park 
Seminary at the period of its annual fair, when hundreds of 
the surrounding gentry assemble to enjoy the charming 
scene presented by her fair charge, joyously displaying the 
fruits of the past year's industry, and devoting the proceeds 
of their skill and their taste to the cause of education in 
Liberia, by which they have already contributed upwards 
of $1100 toward the proposed college at Bassa Cove. The 
venerable mansion — the natural features of the scene, al- 
most unparalleled for sylvan charms — the rich display of 
articles of utility and beauty — the happy and animated 
groups engaged in the duties of the day, were all highly 
attractive : but it must be confessed that all this was infi- 
nitely heightened, when, on approaching the white-headed 
little company of merry old negroes assembled beneath the 
ample shade of the monarchs that had for centuries spread 
their giant arms athwart the verdant lawn, and asking 
some questions touching themselves and their absent des- 
cendants, they poured forth a torrent of blessings upon 
their 'good missis' for the benefits she had showered on 
'them and theirs.' 

"Who can forget the spirit-stirring lays of the sweet 
singer of the North, Mrs. S., or her touching appeals for the 
dark-browed sons of Africa? To her discriminating judg- 
ment and patient care, do the earliest schools of Africa owe 
much for the selection and preparation of young colored 
females who subsequently became eminently useful as 
teachers. Or who but must revere the admirable patron 
of those schools — the venerable Friend B. S., of Philadel- 
phia, who first planted and sustained them, and who has 



382 REVIEW OF THE "WHOLE. 

presided over the Ladies' Liberia School Association, to 
which those schools gave rise, with untiring assiduity and 
liberality, until many hundreds of the offspring of Africa 
rejoiced in the privileges of a Christian education 1 

"Many other bright names might be added to this hur- 
ried list of the earl) female friends of colonization; but 
having already exceeded the limits I had proposed for 
answering tin- query of yesterday, permit me to close with 
that of the widow of the revered Finley, who, on adverting 
to his love for Africa, strong in death — added, 'one son is 
now there, the other is on the banks of the Mississippi 
pleading her cause — and if I possessed twenty, I would 
gladly dedicate them all to the same holy work.'" 

In another portion of this work reference has been mado 
to distinguished friends of the cause in England. This 
reference might lure he extended; but we will close our 
notice of those who have dedicated their time, their talents, 
their money, and their prayers to this great enterprise, with 
a beautiful tribute to the merits of colonization, from the 
pen of the late Jonathan Hutchinson, one who enjoyed in 
u remarkable degree the love and veneration of his fellow 
Christians, and the respect of all who knew him. This 
extract is from testimony borne to the mission of one who 
visited England not long since to promote the views of the 
American Colonization Society.* 

* " Hannah Kilbam, who was a member of the Society ofFriendi 
in England, and well known tor her greal benevolence ami ardent 
piety, visited Liberia in 1832. She thtu expresses herself in a letter 
written while in the colony: 'This colony altogether presents quite, 

n new scene of Combined African and American interest. I cannot 

but hope and trust, thai it is the design of Infinite Goodness to pre- 
pare :i home in ibis hind for many who Lave been denied the full ex- 
tern of privilege in the land of their birth, and that .some, who are 
brought here l>nt as a shelter and resource for themselves, may. 

through the visitation of heavenly goo ln< M in their own minds, and 

the farther leadings of Divine love, become ministers of the glad 
tidings of the gospel to many who are now living ha darkness, and 

the nhudow of death.'" 



REVIEW OF THE WHOLE. S83 

M After a serious and deliberate consideration of the plan 
exhibited for educating, christianizing and instructing in the 
arts of civilized life, the emancipated slave ; and thus pre- 
paring him as a fit instrument for conferring similar bene- 
fits upon his countrymen in Africa — I am led to the con- 
clusion that it is the most intelligible in theory, the most 
efficient in practice, and the least expensive of any propo- 
sition on this important subject that has hitherto met my 
observation. Should this scheme of pure benevolence be 
so far able to surmount the difficulties attending its course, 
as to produce the full amount of good of which it appears 
capable, I think it will ultimately prove to have been one 
of the gi'eatest blessings ever bestowed by a gracious Crea- 
tor, through the instrumentality of man, upon suffering and 
degraded humanity. Under these impressions, I cannot but 
desire its success — and that every one who, with proper 
motives and qualifications, shall engage in the service of so 
noble a cause, may be aided by the sympathy and support 
of every friend of the human race ; and that he may also be 
favored in the prosecution of this great object with assis- 
tance and protection from the universal Parent of the whole 
family of man, who is 'God over all, blessed for ever!' 

" Gedncy, Smo. 13, 1S32." 

And now, finally, this work is commended by the author 
to the blessing of God. That these pages may do good, is 
the anxious wish of one who loves his country and sympa- 
thizes with his brethren in whatever part of the country, 
and also pities Africa and her oppressed children. 



THE EXD. 






jUntirrs. 









Yaradkk : a Pi.ha for Afhica. in familiar conversations on tin- subject of 
Slavery and Colonization, — was the title of successive edition! of a work which 
Iwoed from the press in the yean 1836-8, by the author of the present volume 
entitled " Africa's Redemption the Salvation of onr Country." In the present 
work, the substance of the former is retained, the statistics railed by time bebu 
corrected ; whilst the fuller history of the colonization enterprise, the adi 
condition ot' Liberia, and tin- present aspect of the whole subject, is presented 
by copious additions and revisions. The flattering reception which the fonora 
work met, and the assurances that it was ot great utility to the cause wbii h it 
was Intended to promote, are reasons which have ofh □ been urged for the pro- 
duction of the present volume. A few notices recommendatory of the original 
work, consequent upon the appearance • il editions of the "1'i.k.i," 

are here selected from various leading periodicals as indicative oi the estimation 

In which it W8S held. 

This work, so long a desideratum, will be read with equal pleasure and profit 
by every true friend of the African race ; correct principles, sprightly narrative, 
and thrilling anecdote, being bappfly blended in a work of high literary merit 
We bone the time Is not fax distant when a copy of it will be found in every fa- 
mily ot our land. The spirit with which it is written must commend it to the at- 
tentive perusal of every one of good fa ling. — Culuniiattun Herald. 

This Is ■•in "l colonization. The uuthor goes over the whole 

ground of the controversy Which ha* of late so agitated the country, bringing to 
his aid many appropriate observations of distinguished men, or extracts from 
lieu ■;,. , cnes, which Bre made to bear. In an into resting and instructive man- 
ner, upon the points under discussion. — Journal of Commerce, 

sketches, anecdote, history and argument, are happily blended in furnishing 
a full view of the subject, and in leading the mind to the conclusion that coloni- 
zation is the only true remedy of an acknowledged evil for the cure of which 
■neb unskilful means have lately been applied. — rrabyterisn. 

Mr. Freeman has performed a valuable service for the community ; and we 
hope not in vain. There - ms ■ rery pleasing variety of net and incident em- 
bodied in the work, which will, as we before remarked, render it attractive, 
while we fear nut to pr- did its .itiiity . if it is read.— Baptist Monthly. 

A pait of this volume contains a learned dissertation upon the origin of tit- 
very, and the cause of that evil upon Africa, The writer quotes from many in- 
genious authors, and gives great Interest t<> h.s w,>rk by bis bappy use ot his 

. : y to the master as well a* to the slave, 
and points to colonization as a ri medy. — United States Gazette. 

It appears to be designed to present, at one view, a summary of the views of 
the different parties on these two topics, (slavery and colonisation,) and the ar- 
guments and facts on which each of them relies. In the main We regard tho 

1 the author to be unexceptionable. We have been pleased with t; 
ml tendency of the volume, which Is to exhibit the present attractive p 

which I'm', idi nee has givi n to the scheme of African colonization. The infor- 
mation if contains ought to be universally disseminated in our own country, and 

il British philanthropists and orators would read it they would spar-' themselves 
itions el' windy eloquence, by which thi \ them- 

rid "ous, and slandering the nation. — Ownsssrcfal Advertiser. 

Those Wi • ■; a full illustration and Investigation of the subject of slavery 
and colonizatio vereferl work, we think none can rise from its 

perusal withoul . \.ng their minds enlightened on this very Important subject 
— l.nin 

An n il ok, In which Mr. Freeman has collected and judiciously «r- 

ranged important facts relative to the hiatorj and evils of slavery ; he has also 

ed the work ei Hating and presenting in their connexion 

with eai h other, the sentimi nis of many <■! the moti i ud distinguish- 

ed men, both In Europe and America, who have contributed of their Influence 
and tali nt-' in aid "i the cause "on b be pleads. He has appropriately adopted a 
conversational style, and mi happily blended i ntertainment with Instruction, as 
t., i, ndei bis Plea a captivating manual, not only for the use ol mature Inquirers, 
but also ol th oon to assume an active agency In contaminating the 

plans winch their seniors ►hall have commenced We believe that whoever shall 

read it, and we believe they will be many, will derive from it much knowledge, 

aid receive such Impressions as will better qualify them to met with an intelli- 
1 in promoting the object the attainment of whish it contemplates-— 

J'hiladtlphia Obtcrtcr. 



